The Journal of Arbitrator Larn Cormix - Volume VII

[Sangre]

Date Unknown
Thought for the day: Ignorance is a Blessing, Curiosity a Damnation

--

I have broken out of my prison, and located my effects. It seems the cult was not too stringent in keeping them far from my view. For the first time in weeks, I can feel familiar clothes on my back, and having Regia in my arms feels better than ever. I am now ready to return to duty.

All my effects were still there, down to the flask of Amasec in my coat pocket, nestling next to my father's knuckledusters. All my effects, that is, save one - the sixth volume of my journal, which I had had on my person, I located fragments of in a recycler, charred beyond all recognition. Clearly a hasty attempt at sabotage - ill-devised, but then who would venture into the lunatic mind of a heretic?

As the details of my mission, the most recent entry, have been destroyed, I feel a short recap is in order. Some time ago, I was tasked with investigating the Cathedral of [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM], located [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM] of [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM], on the planet [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM], at whose precinct courthouse I am currently based. My superiors had received information of cultist activity around the cathedral and I was sent to verify the claims. However, I was captured, stripped, tortured and imprisoned, chained to a wall for longer than I could count. As such I have no idea how long I spent in captivity, only that the Will of the Emperor sustained me.

I was freed today by a man calling himself Zarkov. He has the credentials of an Inquisitorial aide, apparently securing the compound around the Cathedral while a team of Acolytes under the Inquisitor [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM] were sent within to investigate claims of a daemonic tome within the Cathedral and, if found to be substantiated, destroy it. He shared his rations with me - I had eaten little more than rough, decaying bread for the duration of my imprisonment - and explained that under the current conditions, he could arrange for me to be seconded into the service of Inquisitor [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM] for the duration of his current investigation, a chance to uphold the laws of the Emperor that I was only too happy to accept.

Before long I had met the party of Acolytes. At my first glance they seemed an irregular bunch. There was a seemingly insolent, pallid young member of the Ministorum; a dim-looking guardsman; a scuttling adept clutching a data-slate; a frightened-looking young girl who had the eyes and demeanour of a psyker; and a shifty-looking man who set my investigative instincts buzzing like a saw. I briefly introduced myself, and appraised myself of their situation: they had destroyed a tome - one of the few extant copies of the [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM] - and although apparently one had fallen close to succumbing to its foul litanies, the person responsible ensured to destroy the tome entirely. Warily satisfied, I joined them for the journey back to the local town. I sat in the front seat, next to the driver, but I could still hear the Acolytes discussing me from the back of the truck. No matter.

I am sitting writing this in the communal lodgings that Inquisitor [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM] has arranged for his team. I have written my report of the mission, as well as filled in the necessary paperwork for Inquisitorial Secondment, and have had it filed at the precinct courthouse, and I am taking a few moments to reflect on the magnitude of my duty. Inquisitorial duty is not something I accepted lightly. I now have the opportunity to serve the Emperor and the law he upheld in a more direct, blessed fashion, and for this I shall be grateful.

I got to know the wounded guardsman later that night. His name was Krell Zekk - a proud trooper of six years' service in the 23rd Dektoris Marauders. He is from a feral world and self-admittedly simple - but he is as pious as any noble servant of the Emperor and proud that he knows his duty. I have taken a liking to this man.

After he fell asleep, I took the opportunity to check Regia. I had been unable to maintain her while imprisoned, so I was naturally concerned. Fortunately her mechanism is blessedly simple, and I had soon checked that there was no damage to the mechanisms. She had been unloaded, however. I slid two shells into her glistening barrels and snapped her shut, savouring the clean, cold metal.

Tomorrow our mission continues anew. Another update then.

Larn Cormix

[Sangre]

Date Unknown - +1
Thought for the day: Heresy flourishes in the soil of comfort

--

Today we were brought down to the underhive. A good night of rest did me no end of good, and now with my Seal swinging from my neck I feel capable of taking on the galaxy with Regia by my side.

A pallid young man - clearly a native of the underhive - is our contact. The town down here has recently played host to a possible Theta-level psyker who acts as a healing woman. She lives in a fortified compound across a deep chasm spanned only by two small footbridges. We have been sent to investigate for signs of heresy and if any claim is substantiated, to cleanse it.

I took an early opportunity to briefly get to know the team's Adept, Magnus Dorn: A humble worker at the Administratum for countless years, honoured to work for Inquisitor [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM], but unable to think of any reason short of his advanced knowledge of Imperial creed and lore, that he was seconded into [CENSORED BY THE ADMINISTRATUM]'s service.

We soon split up, with Dorn accompanying me and the cleric into town. We soon came across the town's Sheriff, a man of seemingly noble character whose sole aim is maintaining the fragile peace in this section of the underhive. We were about to leave when that damned fool of a cleric engaged the Sheriff in conversation and nearly revealed our Inquisitorial agenda! I had to physically restrain him. I fear for his suitability and will ensure to consult the local Diocese on a plan of action, as soon as I am capable.

I then split from Dorn and the cleric for a few hours as I employed my old skills of listening in crowds, gleaning gossip from careless talkers. I was able to ascertain some information about the "healer" - in addition to the fortnightly visits to town she generally paid, it was not unheard of for exceptionally wealthy outsiders to arrange a private consultation with her.

Upon our party rendezvousing at the home of our contact, we discovered more good news in the form of three barrels of blessed explosive, at our disposal.

We spent the rest of the evening hotly debating a battle strategy for infiltrating the "healer's" compound and cleansing her taint. It was inconclusive. I took the opportunity to excuse myself, update my journal, take a well-earned sip of amasec, and get plenty of rest for the day ahead.

Larn Cormix

[Sangre]

Date Unknown - +2
Thought for the day: Intolerance is my shield

--

After a brief period of rest, we set out to explore the town. It was decided that we would wait for the healer to come to the main congregation area in the centre of the hive, in five days time. In the meantime it would be prudent to uncover more secrets of this hive, we reasoned. Oh, may the Emperor forgive us for this transgression.

While I was supervising some locals who were searching a scrapheap in search of anything interesting, the rest of the party crossed the abyss and within the hour, returned, with news of a dark tunnel. I abandoned my search, which had turned up nothing of more note than a broken stub revolver.

Some mutants lived across the hive. We approached them. The cleric hired one to be a guide, despite protestations that the unclean should not be suffered to live. He led him a short way into the tunnel, then a gunshot was heard. The cleric re-emerged without a word.

The mutants, it turned out, were less than happy about this predicament. They confronted us, and a fight broke out. We performed admirably, however, sending two mutants straight to the judgement of the Emperor and the rest scarpering into the ruins. It was decided we would explore the tunnels ourselves. Making flaming torches of the Emperor's light out of wooden planks, rags and amasec, we ventured forth into the tunnels.

After many hours of travels through dark tunnels, we arrived at a cavern. A pool of brackish but palatable water brimmed in the corner, and an eldritch glow bathed the cave in greenish-yellow light. There were four passages, and, after recuperating, we headed down one of them. The Emperor drew my eye to an etching
in the stone, but I thought nothing of it at the time. This was to be my first mistake.

We set out in single file, with the cleric leading the way, followed by trooper Zekk, Tidus, myself, and then our roguish companion, the sanctionate, and Dorn at the rear. It wasn't long before the terrible occurred.

A beast, a foul thing composed of the damnation of the Emperor, an abomination unto His eyes, attacked us. My instincts told me this was no beast of nature - and I remembered the sigil at the tunnel entrance. I had investigated many cults in my time but this was the first time I had ever seen a beast of the Ruinous Powers incarnate. My heart in my throat, I stroked Regia's stock for comfort.

There was a terrible wailing from the front, and blood splattered all around the tunnel. The light was dimmed as our torch-bearer, the Cleric, was down. In the chaos, I saw Tidus in front of me, crying out and falling to the floor. I levelled Regia in my shoulder and fired a round into the beast's maw. It pinwheeled back and dissolved. Immediately my command instincts took over. I ordered an immediate withdrawal. I pulled Tidus to his feet, and between us we carried the cleric and Zekk to the cavern. Their injuries were severe, but controlled application of the sanctionate's witchcraft stabilised their wounds. After spending several hours recovering, with Tidus and I taking shifts to keep guard, the pair had recovered to the point where they could walk, and thus began our slow and cautious exit from the tunnel.

I sit now in Tidus' house, our headquarters for the time being. Zekk and the cleric are still recovering from their wounds, but constant attention from our sanctionate means they are expected to recover their strength by the time the Healer leaves her compound in four or five days time. I am writing a report of this incident to hand to the Inquisitor. I have no doubt that within a few months the Astartes will declare Exterminatus on this den of chaos.

Larn Cormix

[Sangre]

Date Unknown - +5
Thought for the day: Hatred redeems my soul in His eyes

--

The day has arrived.

Our sanctionate has aided the recuperation of the injured cleric and trooper Zekk. Tidus' emotional state is the source of some concern, but I remain assured that he will be capable of participating in this evening's festivities. The plan had been decided.

So there I was, in the crowd, in the familiar hooded robes of the underhivers. I looked shiftily about. Magnus Dorn, the criminal and the sanctionate were mingling in the crowd as well. I checked Regia discreetly under my cloak, and watched as the Sheriff led seven watchmen and five hooded figures onto the stage.

A man in the crowd volunteered to go first. He pulled himself up onto the stage - his left arm was visibly disfigured, but after a flash of light, it reformed before our eyes. He left the stage to general cheering and applause. It was at this point that a great many things happened.

First, a crack of lasfire rose out of the buildings facing the platform. I looked up and saw Zekk and Tidus, in their positions, opening fire on the hooded figures. On the stage, the Sheriff seemed to catch his wits the fastest, and began firing up at them.

Then, the Cleric detonated the blessed explosive, demolishing a ruin at the other side of the stage. By this point, the crowd had become a mob, and I sieved through to the front. The shots from our marksmen cut down some of the watchmen and robed men. At this point, I vaulted onto the stage, throwing off my cloak and letting the Sheriff have it with Regia.

As the firefight continued I became acutely aware of one of the fleeing figures growing apart from the rest. I saw flashes of lightning in the corner of my eye - when I snatched a glance I saw the woman who was clearly our theta-level psyker. Her hands spewed unclean bolts of ruin and I had the brief impression of trouble for our team. However, the Emperor was our guiding light, exerting his influence even now, and he wracked her body such that her foul witchcraft was her undoing. With a flash of purity, she was torn asunder.

I turned my attention to the Sheriff once more. He was severely injured. I took pity on him. He had transgressed in the eyes of the Emperor but I granted him the leniency of a swift death. I extended my club and administered a swift blow to the head. He fell. However, I had been grievously injured by his autofire, and as I turned my head to the watchmen on his left, who was levelling his autorifle at me, I blacked out.

Larn Cormix

[Sangre]

Date Unknown... Again
Thought for the day: Our purpose in life is to the Emperor. Nothing more. Nothing less.

--

I awoke with aching ribs to the sight of an unknown man. Fortunately I was quickly appraised of the situation by Zekk and Dorn, who informed me this man was a doctor from the upper-hives. Apparently I had received significant rib damage at the fight with the Healer... and that this was by now about a week ago. Nobody had thought to keep track of exactly how long. I looked over at our Sanctionate, Orla, who was on the bed beside me, her burns by now quite far into recession. The look of fear in the doctor's face was palpable, and I wondered what methods had been used to bring him down here.

Dorn informed me of the events that had unfolded, and I hastily scribed them here as he talked. You will have to excuse any errors.

After the battle, Zekk had carried me back to Tidus' house. Tidus had taken Orla, before setting off to the upper hive with Magnus to find a doctor. After initial negotiations had failed, as they were always bound to have, Tidus repeated with more forceful 'negotiations' and he agreed to come down and treat us.

A few days after, while Dorn stayed behind to watch over the patients and ensure the loyalty of the doctor, Tidus, Zekk and Cromwell the cleric went to investigate the compound of the healer. It was upon encountering the same symbol that we had encountered earlier, in the tunnel, that Tidus decided, unusually, to open the door on which it was inscribed. At this point I interrupted the account of events to point out that in the Inquisition it is generally a very bad idea to open such doors. They cannot be un-opened.

Sure enough, another servant of the ruinous powers lay within. A Daemonette, a repulsive mockery of the perfect human form, who attacked my comrades. Cromwell fired his hammer at the beast, but was taken down. Zekk, too, was injured, but eventually the hellion was vanquished under the weight of their combined firepower.

They returned after bringing the unconscious Cromwell to the doctor, Tidus returned with Zekk, and they raided the compound fully. Fortunately no more daemons, but their inquisition turned up the following letter, which I have transcribed here;


Dearest Atella,

I am so pleased to hear of your progress being able to summon two separate denizens of the warp to aid us in our fight. I am equally pleased to hear that all 4 of your disciples have learned your skilled method of curing the illed.

Stay vigilant for I have heard a report of inquisitorial acolytes operating on the planet. Brother Quintos has not reported to me in several days and I fear his usefulness may have come to an end at the hands of some foolish servants of a powerless old man.

Report to me again when you have finished charming the sheriff and gained complete control over the underhives, a few more healings of the pitiful wretches should have them fanatic enough for our needs.

I shall warn you though if the sheriff is not completely turned by the end of the month, kill the peace loving fool or it is you who will suffer for any hindrance he causes in his ignorant aspirations for peace and health to the scum.

May the mistress grant you boon,

Lupus

Satisfied with this report of events, I lay back, and continued polishing Regia. Tomorrow we return to meet Zarkov for our next assignment. I trust the stench of decay and the ruinous powers will be less when we return above ground.

Larn Cormix

[Sangre]

Local Date 153.063
Thought for the day: The Law is my ally, and a powerful ally it is.

--

Zarkov met us in a bar, as is traditional for meetings of this nature. He smoothed back his hair as he informed us of our next mission.

Allow me to fill you, the reader, in. The raid on the cathedral that took place prior to my Inquisitorial secondment turned up some interesting crates. The crates bore a logo, which I have taken the liberty of sketching below.

http://i50.tinypic.com/2442zbl.png

Zarkov informed us this was the insignia of Stillcorp Transport Ltd, an upstart mercantile cartel located on this planet. This was our lead. Our mission was to investigate STL and see if we could find a link to the cult activity on the planet. We had been provided with a safehouse, but so far this was all the support our Inquisitor could provide us with.

We made our way to the safehouse and Tidus talked of our options at this point. He suggested we should investigate the offices of Nexus Corp, STL's primary business rival on the planet, on the basis that they would certainly have an inside man committing heinous acts of industrial espionage. I agreed. The suggestion was raised that we didn't have much in the way of supplies and information, and I pointed out that the precinct courthouse would be a good place to stock up on ammunition and information. I led the way, flashed my seal at the gate guard, and motioned us in.

My first stop was my locker, which I had not visited in a long time. I had never kept much in it apart from my spare set of manacles and a few changes of uniform. I had lost my manacles in the cathedral when they had been used to imprison me, and Zarkov had split them to release me. I felt their assuring weight at my belt, as I also found a glow rod there. My next trip was to the Armory, where I found Cromwell and Zekk appreciatively examining the craftsmanship on some of the pump-action shotguns in their racks. I signed out a few boxes of blessed 12-gauge for myself, and a few clips of auto-ammo for the others. Lastly was the motor pool. Tidus was admiring the Repressors lined up against one wall, but I filled in the paperwork to requisition a patrol Auto, a blessedly simple vehicle in Arbites livery capable of seating eight, along with an impressive cargo capacity.

We met in the garage, with Dorn entering last. I had given him my access cipher and he had been researching Stillcorp and Nexus in the vast record halls of the courthouse with impunity - an activity that I sensed had given him quite a deal of comfort and satisfaction after the action of the past few weeks. He had assembled detailed files on his personal stack of data-slates on both companies. The most obvious anomaly was that there were currently no personnel records on the CEO of Stillcorp. We decided to pay his opposite number, Mr. Solomon, President of Nexus Corp, a visit.

Their office gates opened for an Arbites Auto, and I flashed my seal at the security guard. "Adeptus Arbites, we're here to see President Solomon." They waved us through, and led us up to his office. I led Zekk and Dorn upstairs while Tidus, Cromwell and Orla waited in the Auto. Orla gave me a knowing look as I left. I remembered my feverish dreams while recovering next to her in the underhive and quickly turned away.

Solomon kept us waiting in an empty meeting room. I sat in a comfortable executive's chair, opposite the door, with Regia in my lap. Zekk and Dorn took up positions on either shoulder, Zekk looking effortlessly menacing as only a tall, scarred veteran can, while Dorn endeavoured not to look too weak. To be fair, I had seen him literally stave in a mutant skull with that unassuming length of ironwood he leaned on.

Solomon entered, a fat man, full of sleaze and rich eating. "Yes," he replied lazily, "what is the meaning of this?"

I stood up, scowling at him. "The law is the meaning of this. What is your name, lawbreaker?"

He visibly deflated. "Solomon, sir, and I am a loyal servant of the emperor."

"This remains to be seen, Mr. Solomon. Do you know what the penalty is for industrial espionage?"

"I know very well what the penalty is for industrial espionage," he replied.

"Well, do enlighten me."

He paused. "Vaguely, it is-"

"Vaguely?" I cut him off, taking the manacles from my belt. "Mr. Solomon, you have been judged and found wanting."

"I promise you, sir, I have no dealings in the illegal!" he stammered as I advanced on him.

I pushed his fat face into the desk and clapped him in irons. "Are you sure you don't want to revise this statement, Mr. Solomon?"

He gulped. "OK. OK, just get these damn irons off me!"

"Who is he?"

"Lekk! He's called Lekk, he's a foreman." I shot a glance to Dorn, who consulted a data-slate for a moment, then nodded. I turned the key in the manacles and they sprang open. Rubbing his wrists, Solomon sat down and looked at me. "What's going to happen to me now?"

I sat down opposite him, putting the manacles back on my belt, and putting Regia on the desk. "Well, Mr. Solomon, we have a number of options. The first is that I slap you right back in those manacles and drag you in front of the Justicar." His mouth dried and he began to speak. "Alternatively," I cut him off, "You can plead Emperor's Evidence, you will be tried by a magistrate, who I will ensure is fully appraised of your full cooperation with our ongoing investigation, and will likely leave without a stain on your record, and what's more - and this is the bit that you should be interested in - as a result of the investigation, you won't have to worry about Stillcorp any more."

He paused before answering. "And what do I have to do?"

I took three shotgun shells out of my bandolier. I held the first one up. "The first thing I needed was the identity of your inside man. You've given me this." I put the shell down on the table, and held up the second one. "The second thing I need, is your full compliance with anything I might ask you to do. Can we take that as given." He nodded reluctantly. I put down the shell. "Third. This is the important one. Can you assure me that your man Lekk will fully comply as well?" He nodded lazily as if this didn't concern him. I put down the shell. "Excellent." I scooped up the ammo and put it back in my bandolier.

"Right, as your first act of compliance, I will need your personal communications details."

"I can give you my work number, it's on this card," he said, fumbling in his pocket.

"No, Mr. Solomon... your personal number." He grumbled and scribbled it down on the back. "Thank you, Mr. Solomon. We'll be in touch."

We left and returned to the Auto. I informed Tidus we had his full co-operation. The next stop was the hab-complex where Lekk was living. Tidus drove us there, and Zekk kicked in the door. We sat, waiting, in the dark, until he arrived. I occupied myself by writing this. My chrono has just turned to midnight and I hear footfall outside. More tomorrow.

Larn Cormix

[Sangre]

Local Date 153.064
Thought for the day: Do what is lawful, not what is easy

--

A long day has occurred.

It started as half of our party drove to the neutral office buildings near the building. I had called Solomon and asked him to arrange a meeting with the mysterious CEO of Stillcorp, to discuss anything - even offering his company to the man. The point was moot, as it served two purposes: To let Tidus lead Orla, Dorn and the lawbreaker into his office; and to let me, Zekk and Cromwell detain the man, if necessary.

We reached the building. I motioned my companions inside, before pulling aside building security and asking them to forbid entrance or egress to anyone who entered the building after the Stillcorp President and his retinue. We waited, briefly, in the next room, until we heard heated debate from the next room. Tidus called us on our com-bead. He asked us to capture the CEO. Alive.

We kicked in the door. I had time to bellow "Adeptus Arbites" as Cromwell and Zekk gunned down the man's two bodyguards. I ran headfirst at the CEO, tackling him to the ground with a cry of "In the name of the God-Emperor of Mankind, you're under arrest!" and manacled him.

We drove back to the safehouse, where we once again encountered Tidus and the others. He handed me a letter which I have reproduced below:



My friend Mallear,
You provision to the cathedral was of a great help and you will be rewarded for your faithful efforts to support us in our struggle against our most hated enemy.

Please prepare a shipment of five crates complete with our agreed contents and as many other crates as need be to ensure they remain undiscovered.

I am sad to hear you had to silence the vice-president to stop him from leaking information of our transactions to the rest of the company. Thankfully they are taught to be ignorant and so you should not find anyone too keen to investigate his vacation.

It pleases me greatly that we need not worry about briving the spaceport overseer anymore as he has tragically died. Mithras will be taking his position and is loyal to our cause.

I will arrive tomorrow by transport and I look forward to receiving the latest shipment.

Your associate,
Lupus


We began interrogating Mallear as to who exactly this Lupus was. He has evaded us once too often for my liking. Cromwell was... zealous. Too zealous. Crushing Mallear's hands with his hammer was acceptable in the eyes of the law. Shooting him in the stomach with an autopistol... still acceptable in the eyes of the law, but less so. Mallear was not fortunate enough to survive this encounter.

Tidus and I manacled Cromwell for the time being and we left to discuss the letter. Magnus Dorn drove me to the precinct courthouse to once again examine their extensive records for this Mithras fellow, as well as to investigate Lupus further. Mithras was innocuous enough, nothing more alarming than a slightly surprising speed at which he rose through the hierarchy of the local spaceport. No further word on Lupus. When we returned we decided to examine the premises of Mithras at the spaceport. Incidentally it was at this point that Cromwell had escaped his manacles.

Mithras had been killed. A single stub-round to the forehead was all we encountered when we entered his office at the spaceport. While Dorn was going through the foreman's logs, the lawbreaker among us searched the dead man's body and uncovered a note. I will not reproduce this note. It was not a pleasant note. It was from Lupus and addressed to us - and this was all the information we needed to leave.

We encountered Zarkov on our way out. We needed to head to orbit. There was a ship there, a transport of some description, that had not answered standard void hails. Dorn cross-examined it with the knowledge he had recently attained and established it was a ship that had recently received a Stillcorp shipment, and had recently docked with an "unidentified ship." He informed us, briefly, that he would accompany us to the ship and we would investigate it thoroughly.

We hired an Arvus lighter from the spaceport and moved to dock. I am no stranger to void travel... after all it took me many years to travel from Astraea to Baraspine. Cromwell had been born in the void, and most of us had had some void experience. Tidus, however, had never left the soil of Baraspine before, and was finding the process slightly unnerving. I did my best to reassure him.

The ship was a simple Imperial Transport, of the kind often seen ferrying the Emperor's blessed providence between his myriad worlds. We alighted in its vast stern hangar and, as Cromwell cited the many guidelines of safe travel in the void I silently recited one of the many litanies appropriate for travel in space. Then I levelled Regia and followed the others through the hangar.

It wasn't long before we encountered a servitor. I'd seen plenty of them throughout my time in the void but they still unnerved me - perhaps because I'd sentenced criminals to Servitude Imperpituis, shackled them and sent them off to the Mechanicus to have their minds scrubbed and bodies altered. Cromwell began talking to it. It told us in broken Gothic that the captain, Cain, had ordered the ship to minimum operational status, and retired to the bridge, ordering the crew not to disturb him.

We left him and progressed through the ship. It took us several minutes to reach the front, through cavernous cargo bays. Finally we were through an airlock to the fore-hull. Two armed servitors blocked our way, informing us they were on guard. They negated all our attempts to talk them around, until Tidus and Zekk gunned them down in a hail of autofire. We proceeded on, to the bridge. I tampered with the lock and, after a few electric jolts coursed through my body, we opened the door to find the captain slumped, on the floor, his resplendent clothing stained with blood. Once again our roguish companion rifled through his pockets and, once again, handed me this letter:



Dear Acolytes,

Allow me to introduce my friend Cain who is unfortunately not a very talkative fellow. At least, not after his last conversation with a bullet.

I would like to congratulate you on your work in Baraspine, you mopped up all my loose ends quite nicely and for that I am thankful.

I'm sure you are looking forward to meeting me and so I have decided to give you a present of the wonderful ship you stand in.

Chase me across the universe, my friends, and know that every step you make only furthers the completion of my glorious plan for you, your precious Inquisition and your dead Emperor God's foolish Imperium.

Lupus


At this point, two servitors entered the room. They looked around, stating that the chain of command had been altered, and (for reasons that plague me even now) nominated one man as the new captain.

Our Adept, Magnus Dorn. Captain Magnus Dorn.

He immediately began filling in paperwork of registration. The ship's name was the first thing out of the log: By The Light Of The Emperor's Benediction We Are Saved. It's a fine name. He also discovered that the "unidentified ship" from Mithras' logs was in fact a small transport called the "Lupus," that had set course for the Protasia system.

I went to the armoury with some of the others. Faces were lit at the prospect of the weaponry that lay before us. I refilled my shotgun bandolier, as well as replacing my damaged and ugly stub revolver with a more finely-crafted, attractive one, as well as a few boxes of ammunition. At this point, the pain in my chest arose again and I realised the electrical damage from the lock had done me more than I had thought, or hoped. I summoned a servitor to take me to the infirmary, where I sit now, writing this. My heart is heavy and my mind weary but ready for the adventures we will have in Protasia.

Larn Cormix

[Gortash]

(OCC - Just thought I’d do a little bit of an update, the first campaign involving Larn Cormix has ended and I will be taking over the writing of the journal to complete the rest of events that happened (There's rather a lot of stuff to come) and Larn will be appearing in a follow up campaign run by a different GM and he will be being played by a different player (I.e. Me) so I will be doing my best to stick to the writing style and characterisation of my predecessor but expect a bit of a shift. I'll do a brief update now and expect the rest in the next few weeks, the next campaign starts on the 11th so hopefully I’ll be done by then and doing weekly updates of the events of each session after that)

Local Date 153.065

Thought for the day: My strength rests in the law

--

I have spent most of the day exploring our newly acquired ship and have discovered many interesting things. The ship is nearly entirely populated by servitors; since Captain Dorm has taken over command of the ship they have all become operational again and gone around doing the duties assigned to them. The captain has given each of us the highest ranking that the servitors recognise giving all of us the ability to command them as we wish and I had one guide me around the ship.

After familiarising myself with my new living space I headed back to new room, an officers quarter that I had been assigned. We will begin our warp jump in a matter of minutes and I can’t say that I am looking forward to it. The thought of flying through demon infested space is not a comforting one and I will be sure to Regia close at hand at all times while we are in the warp, even as I write this she rests by my side waiting for her daily cleaning and maintenance. Should anything go wrong I will definitely need her.

[Gortash]

Local Date 153.066

Thought for the day: The law sees all

--


Zarkov Drake said his farewells today; he needed to report to the inquisitor about our plans and to finish his duties on Baraspine. He promised that he would join us should the inquisitor grant him permission but I knew that he did not expect to be leaving the planet again anytime soon.

Alarm blasted into action this as his ship departed and we prepared for our warp jump to Protasia, I was no stranger to space travel but I have never enjoyed the unnatural sensation of phasing into the warp. I would be ready with Regia at the slightest hint of anything unnatural; I will sleep extremely lightly on this journey. We would be by ourselves on Protasia, we had no inquisitorial contacts, and no way of contacting our inquisitor. Zarkov’s last words to us ‘The Inquisitor will contact you’ had struck this truth home, we were shouldering the task of hunting Lupus ourselves. ‘No matter how far you run, the law always finds you’ I whispered to myself, Lupus will pay.

Local Date 276.125

Thought for the day: The hand of the emperor stretchs far

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After 3 months of warp travel we finally arrived at Protasia, after scanning the surface and having a brief talk with the planetary governor we had been allowed into orbit. We made preparation to head to the main hive city of Peranis and began our decent in one of the ships 2 lighters. The view from our transport gave me some valuable information on the planet; the main hive was surrounded by water on its western and southern sides, mountains to the north and a grassy plain which later turn into forests to the east. There were 2 small towns to the east of the hive and what looked like a quite formidable imperial guard defensive line placed between them and the forest. We landed in the City’s space port and sorted out a meeting point and headed our separate ways, the first day was spent gathering information about the planet, the hive, STL, and hopefully Lupus.

The information we all gathered is recorded here:

There were 2 large hives on the planet and a handful of small settlements near them, although a large quantity of the planet’s surface was habitable it was mostly unused due to the presence of feral orks on the surface. They were mostly disorganised and ill equipped to actually pose much of a threat to the hives and the imperial guards defensive line was more or a shooting range, a line of basaliks would shell anything that came out of the forest and while they stood it would take thousands of charging orks before they got close enough to hit something.

The STL shipment had arrived on the planet, we had a scribe working on locating who would contact us as soon as he knew.

There were 2,154,326 people going by the name Lupus on the planet.

We also recorded the names of every official on the planet should we need to locate and question them.