This is a work of fiction and not associated with Games Workshop

Thank you to kiosce for editing this chapter!

Risia's owner Risia

Chapter 10 book 2 Secret and Lies

Banal laid in bed looking up at the dull plassteel celling of his ship’s personal quarters. The smell of recycled air was as familiar to him as the darkness blanketing his room. His ship was transitioning the warp, the windows shielded and shut to keep the chaotic sights of the warp from driving normal souls insane. The Gellar field always put an odd thrum to the ship as well.

Being alone in his quarters had become a habit since he had retrieved Risia from Histon Eight. Usually, the feline abhuman would sleep with him, but he wanted her to focus on her recovery. Injuries like hers did not simply heal overnight and he wanted to make sure she had her physical therapy completed before pulling her out of medical.

Truth be told, he needed the solitude. Everything that happened on Histon Eight, his discussion with Solorin, the drastic change in values he would have to undertake to complete what needed to be done all unsettled him. It frustrated and angered him, feelings that he thought he had long since left behind as an Interrogator. Sitting up, Banal sat there in the dark in only his trousers, trying to clear his mind. The silence did little to help though, and he knew that he would have to throw himself into his work to help give his mind a break from the questions that were haunting him.

“Lights.”

The command came from his lips and the room lit slowly. The glow from the lamps filling the room with a dull red light first to help one’s eyes adjust before switching into its softer yellow then white tones.

He knew that he would also have to deal with Risia’s companion soon. He had yet to formally introduce her into his employment. Currently he was having the ships’ sanctioned psyker and Solorin evaluate her.

Retrieving his uniform, Banal began to dress and prep for the day’s activities. It was best to keep active during transit. Exercise, attending to work, allowing some flexibility with vices helped keep morale and sanity high and the screams and whispers in the dark at bay.

They had left Histon Eight less than a week ago and were on route to the Citadel. While he knew some information about what he was looking for he, needed to search the archives to find out more. Specifically, how Issa and her team was related to Sharue and her abilities. Furthermore, the location of Crucible. He guessed it was a code name for the location that all of this happened at.

At first Banal had thought that Crucible would be easy to find. Searching through the databanks and coagulators on his ship revealed nothing relevant to the name. Worry had set in that the Daemon had told him nothing but a lie till one of the orderlies that operated the data redundancy had stumbled upon a secondary data key in the databanks that pointed to the word ‘Crucible’ but it had a severed connection. Meaning, the data was there, but it was linked to another database table.

Today should be the day that they arrived at the Citadel if the Navigators were correct about the flows of the warp.

A crackle then ping came from the rooms vox unit. A call coming in from the command deck. Using one of his implants Banal answered the vox.

“Yes, what is it?”

“My Lord,” The female voice of his captain sounded out. “We will be entering real space in a few hours. I also ask that you spare me from having to baby sit your space marine. He is testing several nerves while I need to run and operate the ship.”

Tictonia’s tone of annoyance brought a rare smile to Banal’s lips as he finished buttoning his uniform. “Understood, I will be there shortly Captain. Thank you for the notification.”

"Ave Emperor." the vox curtly replied before hissing quiet, out leaving Banal to turn and leave. Solorin was a key asset, but he also brought a balance to the gloom that this profession carried. Most viewed him as someone who was holy or all powerful. The truth was that, while he held immense power, it was tempered by politics as well as the fact that he was just a man. A mortal that could be felled by the same thing that would fell a servitor.

“Master.”

Inwardly Banal jumped as he turned to see Risia standing there by his door.

“Risia, you should be with the ships medical.”

The scolding tone made her pause for a short bit before she continued. “I have been released to walk the ship as long as I come in for checks up. The bone net is setting well.”

There had been a change in Risia ever since Histon Eight. She seemed to have become more bold, independent. Good traits that she will have to master if she were ever to be raised to Inquisitor.

A sigh came from Banal before finally turning to look at the puma. “Very well.”

“I was hoping to get caught up with current events as well. Solorin simply said he was busy or to talk with you once I was able.”

That was going to be something that he will have to deal with. A reason he had put off visiting Risia or talking with her. She was still young and a strong devotee to the Imperium. Talking about his recent choice to follow information obtained by a Daemon would not sit well with her.

“We will go over that once we dock with the Citadel. Right now, I must go to the bridge to talk with Solorin.”

Risia made a sour look for just a moment but then nodded. She still scorned the tall space marine, but the events that transpired on Histon Eight gave them a mutual understanding of each other. Friendship may be pushing, it but she no longer viewed the overbearing space marine as unnecessary or belligerent. Deciding to also add, “I will be formally accepting your companion into our group as well today. That is, if she gets the recommendations from the evaluation.”

A normal mortal being exposed to daemons was harsh. It was hard for Banal and Risia and they had training and knowledge of it all. He would put the new join under Risia. She will have to learn how to command people and her own Interrogators someday.

“Do you expect trouble again at the Citadel?” Risia asked. The last time they had gone a purger had attempted to kill Risia while he had been talking to lord Brickwall.

“Even more this time.” Banal said as he started to head towards the bridge. “If things are to be believed, then there will be people actively trying to prevent us from finding Crucible.”

Risia would frown a bit, she had learned recently just how much political backstabbing can go on within the Inquisition. “Crucible is what you learned about and why we left Histon Eight?” Risia asked.

“Yes, but I will go into more detail when we get to our destination.” Banal was at an impasse, he wanted to order Risia to stay on ship. Her injuries left her more vulnerable than before and there had been one attempt on her life already. Though Solorin had informed him that it would be better to include her, lest she think that she was being side lined for being unable to perform her duties.

Things were a lot easier when he hadn’t had feelings for her. Solorin had informed him on her moment during the initial crash. He would just have to trust her skill and do his best not to put her in a situation that she would be unable to deal with. There was a greater chance that he would be the primary target this time around.


Eventually he arrived at the bridge to find Solorin leaning up against the wall. The space marine out of his armor and clad in simple clothing.

“Banal,” he said with a nod and smile. “Risia, it is good to see you up and about.”

Risia didn’t quite know how to take that as she simply nodded to the larger space marine.

“Solorin, I was told we will be arriving at Citadel shortly and that you were harassing the bridge crew.”

The large wolf huffing. “Your captain is even more stern and tight assed as Risia! Worse yet, she refuses to rile up.”

This time Risa spoke up. “Good. You’re a headache at the best of times Solorin.”

That only got a toothy grin from the wolf.

Finally, some one noticed Banal as a curt “My Lord!” from one of the bridge crew. Banal quickly rose a hand to dismiss the attention. Tictonia was aware of the Inquisitors presence, her systems letting her know though she did turn to look at the Inquisitor when the call came out.

“My Lord.” She simply said before bringing up a halo for him to view. The sphere showed a stylized map layout of their current route and also estimated times and course.

If all was correct then they should be entering real space in an hour and dock with the Citadel after a transit burn.

“Make sure we take on extra supplies and crew. I have a feeling it will be some time before we get a chance again.” Banal ordered.

“Agreed, I have connections and will ensure that we are over stocked. I assume that we will need to vet everyone coming on board as well as extra security?” Tictonia asked as Banal gave a raised eyebrow.

“Your assumptions are correct.” Was all he said before giving a nod to the other two. “I will need to get into the main archive, I don’t want us to separate this time. Before we dock, Risia talk to medical about what ever you will need to venture off ship and possibly come across complications and Solorin make sure to armor up. Once we get access to the archive, I will fill everyone in on specifics. Tictonia, please let me know when we are about to dock. I leave the rest to you.”

The woman nodded again. “Aye my lord.”

“Till then we should check in on your companion you brought back Risia. Solorin, I assume that she passed?”

“That she did, and then some. She has a strong mind on her, obedient, but not timid. I saw nothing to indicate corruption and the psyker seemed content that there was nothing lingering from her exposure to chaos.”

Risia smiled at that. For her hardened outward look she had hoped that she would pass. “That’s good.” She said getting a nod from Banal. “Agreed, I think it is time that I take a trip down to formally accept her into the group.”


Tamara had been waiting in a steel room for several days. Fed and interrogated time and time again, the worst was the psyker digging around in her skull. Apparently, seeing what she saw would normally end with her death.

Solorin was firm in his handling of her but was the least unpleasant. To be honest he unnerved her, he had an easy smile, but his body language and his eyes betrayed someone that wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. She knew that she had to chose her words carefully with Solorin where the psyker simply dug through skull looking for anything that would indicate corruption.

The prison cell that she was stuck in was hot, the ventilation poor and the thrum of the ship had made it hard for her to sleep. It was taking a toll on her body and her mind. She could still feel the scratchy feeling from her blood shot eyes, her sinus clogged from the blood and over all the lack of sleep was making it harder and harder for her to concentrate.

“They better figure out if they are going to kill me or let me out of this hell soon.” She muttered to herself. It was not as bad as the warzone, at least she got food and water, but here she was slumped up against the corner fighting off the exhaustion as well as boredom. They had left her alone for a few days so she should know soon.

A sudden clang of the door unlocking brought her to her senses. Solorin simply motioned Tamara to follow which she obeyed, slowly getting up to follow. Her body protested but she tried to keep herself from slouching or showing her exhaustion.

The Inquisition was something of a myth in the lower ranks of the guard and PDF. Gods that condemned planets and systems alike at the slightest thought of rebellion. Most thought it just that, a myth, along with space marines. Though here she was following one, myths seemed to be coming true all around her.

Other thoughts of what they went through crept in. Daemons, unnatural creatures, worse yet, corrupt space marines. It was best to push those thoughts out and leave them buried, though it gave her some understanding of the seriousness of why they were taking their time with her.

This would be the second time she will have met Banal, assuming that was where they were going and not to an execution chamber. The first was brief before she was ushered off to her prison cell. Risia was being taken to medical as everyone had been put into quarantine after coming across that monster. They didn’t elaborate on why, just that it was a bio hazard and that everyone, even the inquisitor himself, had to be tested and treated.

When they stopped in front of a hatch Tamara took a deep breath and put her paws behind her in an ‘at ease’ position. A servo skull floated out to scan Solorin before an authorized beep sounded and the door slid open. It turned to her scanning her and an alarm chirp followed forcing Solorin to say.

“Authorized Beta six eight two.”

Through the hatch Tamara saw what waited for her if she were to have tried to go through. Gun servitors lowered their large bulky weapons allowing the pair to pass into the Inquisitorial section of the ship. She could only guess what sort of horrible death awaited her if she stepped out of line.

This was a good sign though, the stress started to eb as it became apparent she was heading to the better part of the ship and not some room with open floor grating to flush the mess out.

“Just treat Banal as a high-ranking officer and you will do fine.” Solorin finally said, not looking back as he talked. “Show a backbone but be respectful and it will go along way with him.”

That confirmation allowed her to relax a bit more. “Aye sir.” She said. She didn’t even know the correct ranking of space marines or even if there was a specific rank. She had tried lord with Solorin before and got a firm response that he was not a fan of being called that. His exact words were ‘Do I look like a refined noble that is used to indulging in luxuries?’

After a bit he stopped at a door and pressed the chime button. A curt voice calling to enter came from the vox and Tamara got her second look at Banal upon entering. The human was old, cybernetics adorned his face and hand, uniform clean though aged. The room was sparce beyond simple utilitarian needs.

“Tamara Survex.” He said bringing her to attention when he called her name.

“Sir!” She kept her eyes forward after that.

“You have been cleared of any corruption but having witnessed secrets that must remain secrets. You have two options. First is a quick painless death, one that is befitting of the Emperor’s loyal children, or you can become a servant of the holy Inquisition. Either is honorable and it is your choice.”

The Inquisitors tone was leveled and all business, no emotion escaped his form beyond the feeling of judgment. It was quite intimidating, though Tamara had already chosen well before she got to this point.

“I will devote myself to the holy Inquisition sir.” As much as she liked ‘honor’, dying was not something she was overly fond of.

“Good, welcome then. There will be a few things that you will have to do after we are done here but for now, at ease.”

The husky relaxed, putting her paws behind her back as she was allowed to look around again. Banal came around the desk and offered her a hand. Reluctantly she accepted it, Solorin had said that Banal was an honorable man that had no discrimination against abhuman like her.

“You can thank Risia for this. I will be placing you under her command and care. Anything that you do will be a direct reflection on her and she will have to take responsibility for both the good and bad.” He emphasized after releasing her paw.

“Aye sir,” Tamara said. That was when Risia came in.

She had a data pad, offering it to Banal. “Currently we must dock with the Citadel, after that you will be tested to see where your strengths are. Risia please get Tamara squared away with a bunk and gear. She will be coming with us to the Citadel.”

Risia gave a curt nod, she was more formal around the Inquisitor Tamara noticed. She had seen the feline injured and needing her to help her. “Once we get to the archives at the Citadel, I will fill everyone in on what we are looking for. Dismissed.”

Risia turned to her and offered a small smile. “Well, you made it.” The feline gestured Tamara to follow, indicating that the meeting was at an end. Following Tamara let the tension leave her body before letting a chuckle escape, “It seems so, am I to keep the same formality with you as the Inquisitor?”

The question made Risia pause in the hall as she turned to her. She had been filled in that Risia was an Interrogator, which meant she operated directly under the Inquisitor. “I think we should keep a level of formality till we figure out how this will work out. I don’t know if I can stand another Solorin.”

The last part was meant as a joke, she was sure, but she offered a nod and a quick “Aye ma’am.”

“I am sure you could use a shower, food, and lets get you a bunk.” Risia said, turning to head out leaving Tamara to follow.


Solorin watched the pair leave before turning to Banal. He was the only other that knew the full story of what happened upon Histon 8. He also knew why they were heading there.

“Trusting her to come along?”

Banal looked to the large wolf and nod. “Going to have to, I have a feeling we will have to act fast and will need the extra body. I will wait till supplies are under our control before we go poking around. I don’t want to start a fight and not have what we need onboard.”

“Word is Brickwall is away, who else do we need to watch for?” Solorin asked sitting on the desk as Banal settled back into his chair.

“To be honest, I do not know. Going forward everyone should be labeled as suspect. Issa’s faction is in power and Brickwall gave us misleading information. Information which I strongly suspect he knew was bad after dealing with Histon 8.” The attempt on Risia and his life, the confirmation from the admiral, the fact that Sharue never showed. Solorin had to agree with Banal that they had been betrayed willingly as Brickwall was a smart man and not one to being manipulated.

“I will arm myself and ensure that the rest of the armory is opened to Risia and Tamara.”

Banal paused at that before adding “Arm Tamara but do not give her anything that can get through your armor.”

Solorin nodded understanding what Banal was getting at. “Also,” Banal added. “get the null collars for all of us. We can’t have psykers getting noisy.”

Making a sour look Solorin nodded, “Aye though you think the new join going to keep her food down?”

Banal offered a small smile. “She will have to look at it as a indoctrination.”

“And if they get suspicious at us having nulls on?” Solorin asked.

“Were on assignment, it shouldn’t raise too much suspicion if were wanting to keep our own information to ourselves. Though if they pry to hard, we will take action.”

Cocking an eyebrow, Solorin looked at Banal. “What sort of action?” He knew what Banal was getting at but he wanted Banal to say it.

“What ever action is needed to get this information.” This time Banal’s face contorted into a serious scowl, it pronounced his cheeks and made him look even older.

Silence filled the room for a short bit, Solorin gently rocking a small box on Banal’s desk before letting it fall back into position. Standing the large wolf nodded and simply said. “Understood.”


Tamara followed Risia and got most of the things sorted. A bunk, food, a fracking shower! It felt good to be in some clean clothing and something more than the watered shrill that they served in the prison. In fact, she felt a little embarrassed when she looked up to see Risia watching her with a raised eyebrow. She had been shoveling food into her mouth and still had some food about her muzzle which she wiped away.

“So, can I ask what were doing and why?” She asked after rubbing her muzzle clean. “Ma’am?” She felt more at ease with Risia as the feline didn’t have a feel of tension about her when she talked. She kept it formal but the words felt softer and more friendly. It may be because of what they had gone through, and she hoped that there was a connection there because of it.

“To be honest, I am out of the loop. Being in sick bay and resting up has left me behind on current events. I can say that we are trying to track down a specific individual though.”

Tamara nodded a bit, they were in a small room with a simple table attached to the bunk room. “Oh? This person must be quite a threat to bring the feared Inquisition down upon them.”

Risia offered a sort of sad smirk. “She is a teenage girl that has no idea why were after her. You know what a psyker is?”

Tamara blahhed some “You mean those mind fuckers that gave me a bloody nose and a splitting headache every time? First time I got to experience one, not very pleasant.”

Nodding Risia went on, “Well, psykers can perform a wide range of different abilities. This one is very strong, strong enough to where we are worried she can become a gateway to allow a daemon into reality. We could either kill the psyker which means the daemon chooses a new target to use, or we figure a way to banish it which will seal it away for a thousand years. My master’s master had been hunting this daemon, they tried to seal it but it ended up killing the psyker as well as Master Banal’s master.”

Tamara was taking the information in trying to work her mind over it. Much of it she was ignorant about but she understood the base concept.

“So? Revenge?”

Risia hemmed “In a way, but if this daemon were to escape it would bring ruin to countless systems. So it’s a dual interest. We had received word from informants that the individual was on Tritan and we were watching her, trying to figure out what to do when Issa butted in. She nabbed her up and we had thought she was being taken to Histon 8. Seems that was a lie.”

“So why would this Issa interfere?”

A tired look dawned on Risia, maybe even more so then when she had been injured. “As I am finding out, the Inquisition is more a viper pit than a holy order.”

Tamara hemmed “Lovely.” She said flatly.

“What and who is this individual?”

“They called her Sharue in the underhive. Marbled fox, but we later learned that her last name was Silvermoon. Long lost member of the Silvermoon family which owns the Tritan shipyards.”

“That sounds important.” Tamara said putting her food off to the side as she listened.

“Silvermoons are one of the three large family households given charter by Terra over Tritan and it’s resources. They got it during the division when abhumans started to become more pronounced members of the Imperium. They control a good potion of the ship production and repair in the cradle.”

“So why was she a ganger then?” Tamara asked, confused at why such a person was in the under hive. “She a low ranking member? And you says she is strong? How strong and how could some one miss a teenage girl with those sort of powers?”

“We don’t know, just that she was found there and it’s believed she is an emergent. That means that she had not grown into her powers yet.” Risia explained. “We have a feeling that Issa wants to use her in some capacity but a psyker that powerful can’t be controlled. Possession is too great of a risk.”

Tamara nodded though gave a sort of lost look making Risia pause and think over some things. “The stronger a psyker is, the more noticeable it is to the entities of the warp. And the more noticeable a psyker, the more likely that they will try to take over the psyker. If a psyker is not sanctioned and taught how to protect themselves then the more danger of that possession.”

That made Tamara pause and think over some things before asking. “Well, what if Issa is getting her sanctioned? Then would this person be dangerous?”

That made Risia give a sarcastic chuckle. “Well, you will just have to learn how Issa is. Also when a psyker is sanctioned it is limited to its power. That is one of the safe guards to prevent them from getting possessed. It makes it safer for them to operate but forces them to limit their power.”

“So, it’s like someone making sure some one can’t overload a plasma cannon?” It was the best comparison that Tamara could make.

“To a degree yes.” Risia confirmed. “A psyker can be gifted with power that their mortal body and mind cannot contain. Issa is meddling with this and if what we have learned is true about Sharue, then she puts the Imperium in great danger.”

There were more questions that Tamara wanted to ask as she scrunched up her face. “So, if she is doing all of this, and it is so dangerous, then why doesn’t the Inquisition send more resources after her?”

A worried look crept over Risia’s face as she hemmed. “We suspect that it’s a possible sanctioned project by the Inquisition.” She said quietly keeping her eyes directly on Tamaras.

The husky shifted confused at first then as it dawned on her she sat back. “Oh.” Then it really started to dawn on her at the task that they were starting to undertake and the sheer scale of what it implied. “Oh…..grox shit.” She added. This time drawn out as Risia nodded.

“You may have wanted to choose that execution by the time were done with what needs to be done.” Even though Banal hadn’t filled her in with anything recently, Risia was smart enough to know that Banal would not be so secretive or cautious unless he believed that their current enemy was the Inquisition itself.


Solorin entered the armory, they had docked with the Citadel and had been bringing on supplies for some time. When the door closed behind him he saw a fellow space marine operating one of his many mecrotendrites. The tech marine looking up, his helmed face hiding his expression, but his tone was a warm one. “Brother Solorin, you look well.”

An easy smile spread across the wolf as he spread his arms wide. “I have come to get dressed Brother Maskis!” He put his usual bravado behind his tone and expression but inwardly he felt the weight of responsibility weighing him down. The tech marine gave a chuckle.

“As animated as ever, very well let us get started.”

The process of getting into his armor took a bit and he was surprised to see Risia step out from a corner bringing out some of the various weapons. She laid them out as she looked up and nodded to Solorin.

“You fill the new join in?” Solorin asked as he walked past her to stand on the mechanical platform.

“Yes, as much as she needed to know, that is.” Risia responded before pulling out null collars.

“Those things creep me out.” Solorin complained, he saw Risia give a coy grin and in a rare playful jab “Aww puppy dun want to get collared.”

Solorin let out a bellowing laugh and pointed at Risia. The feline actually jumping a bit at the sudden burst of laughter. Her face going serious as she hissed out “The hell is so funny?!”

“You’re learning Risia! I’ll make you a proper shit talker yet!”

That made Risia relax looking a bit grumpy then slowly she laughed and shook her head as Solorin became more serious and watched several servo skulls start to float out of their docking stations.

Brother Maskis walked up to operate a panel. His armor was as blank as Solorin’s, his pauldron showing no chapter symbol. Words of holy incantation starting the process as parts of armor started to come out to hook into the black carapace.

Slowly his body was encased in thick layers of ceramite, a comforting feeling as piece after piece was put on and attached before finally the many different mecrodendrites detached leaving him to walk off the platform and clasp Brother Maskis gauntlet. “Perfect fit my fine tailor.”

The tech marine gave a chuckle but then looked over at Risia then back to Solorin. The space marine understood before looking over at Risia.

“Risia, please give us the room.”

Risia looked to Solorin, trying to tell if he was trying to give her a hard time but seeing his face told her he was being serious. She nodded and slipped out.

After the door shut Maskis let go of Solorin’s wrist. “This is a lot of hardware to simply ‘visit’ the Citadel Brother.”

Seeing where this was going Solorin sighed. Working his armor left and right as it went through a serries of tests to confirm that everything had activated correctly.

“You have been with the Inquisition as long as I if not longer Maskis. You know how some things go.”

The tech marine nodded lifting up his gauntleted hands to unhook his helm and pull it off, showing an aged human underneath. “Yes, I do, that is why I know this is no normal visit.”

Sighing Solorin turned to his brother giving a serious look. That look made Maskis frown deepen “And I know that look.” He said pointing at Solorin.

“Aye, its best that you do not ask too many questions Maskis. Put your trust in Banal but know the road ahead is not going to be easy.”

That had Maskis lowering his arm as he sighed. A smile formed on his aged face. “And if I want to join you on this excursion?” He asked.

Solorin walked over putting his gauntleted paw on his brother’s shoulder. “One marine is an escort, two is an invasion.” He said giving a smirk. “Besides your skills are best put to use here, and we need some one to keep the ship secure.”

Giving a sigh Maskis crossed his arms nodding. “I know the drill, most of the ship knows that something is up. Though because you are leaving me behind.” Maskis finally said pulling away from Solorin. The wolf cocking an eyebrow before frowning seeing Maskis pull out one of the null collars. “It means that I will take a good bit of enjoyment putting this on you.”

That raised eyebrow turned into a twitching one as Solorin gave a nervous smile but relented. “Aye, I will give you at least that much at the slight of not taking yea along.”


Banal walked into hanger bay to see Risia, Solorin and now Tamara standing there. Well most of them standing as Tamara was dry heaving off to the side, her paws on the null collar about her neck. Solorin was watching with amusement as Risia was looking over a data slate. When Banal approached she went to attention though relaxed when he waved her off.

Walking past Tamara he put a hand on her back. “You will get use to it.” He simply said before looking to Solorin. “Is everyone on board?”

Giving a nod Solorin offered a smile. “Seems so, you chose your crew well.”

“Good, I am having Tictonia offboard anyone that may become a problem later on.” Touching his vox unit Banal reported that they were disembarking to the ships command.

“Not to late to let us grunts do this work Banal.” Solorin said making Banal look to his friend. “I never ask someone to do anything that I would not be willing to do myself. Besides it is more suspicious if I were to send just my team to the archives without me. I can get you to the archives with less issues.”

With that he walked out to the main onramp. Supplies were still being loaded as a throng of bodies flowed about them. The onramp was wide enough to allow a Baneblade to move across it with room to spare. Unlike before, where he took the cutter to the Citadel, this time his flag ship had fully docked with the Citadel. This created complications and he would have to time things well. It would take time to undock from the Citadel and the Citadel was not called a fortress for nothing.

Thankfully Tamara seemed to be doing better after they started to move. If she were a human, she would probably look pale though. A full team of abhumans, it was a rarity in the inquisition, but he had found that abhumans had experience interacting with hostile societies and had benefits that normal humans did not have. Smell, strength, hearing, reaction time, all were a benefit and even if his fellow Inquisitors looked down upon him for it, he viewed them as citizens of the Imperium.

The first challenge was coming up, a check point that would tell them if they were already marked or if they were still in the clear. Guards were checking ID’s and paperwork as Banal walked up showing his rosaria to the guards who scanned it. The device giving his information as a servo skull scanned him and his team.

A long pause as the cogulator worked before giving back a ping and the guards offered a nod to the group letting them pass. A flush of relief filled Benal, it meant that they would not have too many issues getting to the Archive at least.

“Tamara, it is best that you keep your eyes forward.” Banal cautioned seeing the husky look around. A curt ‘Aye sir’ followed as he started to make his way into the Citadel. The unease he felt was new to him, like a child doing something that they knew tey should not be doing. It was a feeling that he did not like and it set him deeper into his stern look. He had not realized just how much he had relied on the feeling of belonging and safety of his order. Now that he no longer had that, Banal was realizing just how little control he had over internal feelings.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his name called out.

“Inquisitor Banal!”

Turning he saw a female human approaching. The woman had a cocky grin on her face making Banal to give a formal greeting. “Inquisitor Andria,” The lean woman was adorned in only her formal uniform and was new to the rank of Inquisitor. She had been one of his original interrogator choices before coming across Risia.

He hoped that she did not harbor the anger she had shown after being rejected by him over an ‘abhuman’ It had been a slight that had heavy consequence to her. To have an abhuman chosen over you guarantees rumors to spread questioning if there was something wrong with you.

Nothing was wrong per say, but her arrogance had set him to look to Risia. She ended up making Inquisitor rather quick and now enjoyed the privileges that came with such a promotion.
“I thought I had seen the Truth’s Edge make port.” She offered a friendly smile and offered her hand to shake. Banal humored her and shook it giving a nod. “Yes, we are in port taking on supplies before heading back to the Histon System.”

Banal started to exchange pleasantries before he stated, “I need to visit the archive Andria, please ec.” But he was interrupted as she gave a smile. “I was just on my way to the archives myself. I need to upload my current mission into the system banks. I can join you and catch up some.”

This forced Banal to pause for just a moment before offering a nod. “Very well.” The fewer things he said the less she would have to work with.


Risia saw Inquisitor Andria and groaned inwardly. Needless to say she still remembered the time that he had chosen her and Andria exploded. This was probably her way of gloating having been promoted to Inquisitor already. The two inquisitors talked, giving Risia enough time to wave Tamara to fall back some and give them room.

The husky had enough sense to not ask any questions out in the open. She simply backed off and followed Risia’s lead. When she saw that Andria had started to follow Banal, she began to worry. Solorin had shifted his movements as well. He must know Andria as well.

Reaching back Risia taped her vox unit three times to signal the bridge there may be issues. This would help Tictonia be prepared incase things were to go sour. A single beep sounded back allowing Risia to know that she got it and it was received.

“Risia,” Tamara said. “have you been here before?”

The feline turned to look at Tamara. It probably was best to have some small talk. It would be odd to be moving about silently and with a mood hanging over them. “Only once before. It isn’t often Inquisitors come back to the Citadel unless summoned or we need something.”

“What is it like here?”

“Well, a purger tried to take my life last time.” Risia explained as if that should set the over all mood for the trip. Tamara scrunched up her face and left it at that.

The archive was a massive section of the Citadel, or sections. It was distributed across the ring which traced back to a central core located somewhere within the network. It could be anywhere but the terminal access for this section was coming up.

Massive double doors were already open as another checkpoint came up. Not everyone could just enter the archive. Banal let Andria go first and then explained that his team was here to help him look over an expansive data collection. It took a bit, but the guards eventually allowed the group to go through.

The archive thankfully did not have too many people in it at the time. Mostly acolytes that were busy taking care of the paper copies as well as the overall room. There were other members that were studying at benches and tables and Andria had moved off to work on what ever she had come here to do.

Banal led them into a room before looking about before turning to the team and Risia. “Okay, we’re looking for anything attached to the word Crucible, Iron curtain, or Project Emerald Star. Any of those might be linked to the information that we need to find what planet Crucible resides on.” He started to explain. “Make sure to look for corresponding data links as well.”

Then he started to produce code ident keys. Handing them out to everyone “This will get you into the system.”

Risia took the ident key out looking over the flat band of metal then looking to Banal. “Master, you said you would explain a bit more when we got here. Is there anything to fill in beyond what we are looking for?” She was taking a risk asking but it had bothered her that she had been left out of the loop for so long.

Banal paused a bit before nodding to Solorin who shut the door. “Crucible is a world on the eastern fringe that possibly where Issa and her master worked. The informant I spoke with told me that the facility there would help us understand what Issa was doing with Sha.”

Risia hemmed a bit “So you think Issa kidnapped Sha from the Silvermoons, did something then brought her back?” Risia was trying to understand it as she also wondered where he got this information. He had his network but anyone that would have this sort of information and the ability to get security clearance to access it would be pretty powerful. Her eyes going to the security ident in her paw.

Shaking his head “No, I am unsure what all happened just that the informant said that we would learn a lot from this location and did not elaborate much beyond that. Other than it was a primitive planet and not one listed in normal star charts.”

Giving a nod Risia took it in step. She lifted the Ident stick and said “Well time to get to work then.” Turning she nodded to Tamara to follow “Come on, I will show you how this works and how to keep your foot print low.”

“Aye ma’am.” The husky following.

Leaving and heading out into the Archive she planned on getting to work but there was a uneasy feeling settling with her. Banal had never kept the name of his informants hidden from her before. She didn’t want to pry but if he was protecting his informant then it meant either he didn’t trust someone in the group, there was a threat she didn’t know about, or someone in the group would not like what he would say.


Banal watched Risia go as well as Tamara. Solorin gave a nod heading out as well as Banal headed to a Cogitator located in the wall at the end of the room. He had a feeling that Risia had picked up on his vaugness of the information and knew that he would have to elaborate more later. Right now, he dared not talk about anything he did on Histon Eight. Not here and not now.

“Blessed machine, take my request and honor me with your response.” He muttered while putting in the ident chip and waiting. The machine seemed to freeze up and sputter a few times before it started to process the access ident. A logo of the holy inquisition rotating on the screen as the red light blinked for several seconds. This was it, the information that he received was about to either help or send several Archivists down upon him and his group.

The machine bleeped, and the light turned green as an archive query screen appeared with specific rights coming up. The ident codes that he had received were valid. A horrifying awareness came across him as if the daemon had easily given him this information, information access to one of the most secretive sections of an inquisitors database, then was anything really a secret to them? How did one even know what was real data and what had been tampered with?

It gave him enough anxiety to actually pause for several moments before finally starting his queries. Questions for another time. Typing in his first query gave little results beyond the broken database key. Crucible was in the system but it seemed like some one had worked hard to purge it from the system. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

That was when Tamara suddenly came in a short moment later, she had her arms full of scrolls as she put them out on the table.

“That was fast.” Banal said turning to her leaving the screen up.

“Risia noticed that there was an archived reference on the ident stick and had me go there. Nothing said Crucible but I noticed that there was a crucible stamped into the wax.” She said, lifting a scroll to show a red wax seal with a crucible stamped into it.

Curious. Banal accessed the ident stick and looked into the system information. It seemed to have updated after being put in and sure enough there was an archive reference. He was impressed with both Risia and Tamara. It was a good find and got him to think outside the box. If they had used just the stamp for reference archiving. Going back to the archive screen he started to type in ‘Iron Pot.’ ‘Black Pot’ ‘Forge’ and other references that could be used in leu of a crucible. Most gave no results except when he put in ‘Melting Pot’ he got a hit. The system bringing up information which he started to download into the ident.

“Good find Tamara.” He said looking back at her. “Go tell Risia and Solorin to look for a code word ‘melting pot’.

The husky gave a quick nod and hurried out, maybe a little too fast as he hoped she didn’t draw any unwanted attention their way.

Here he found more information, but it was heavily redacted. It seemed that this information could not be purged without heavily affecting the database, thus was redacted instead of purged. Sadly, there was no location that he could find. It would be some time to download so he turned his attention to the hard copies laid out on the table. The seal was nothing he had seen before though there was an inquisitorial reference number located on the side of the scroll.

This was a lucky find, the daemon knew what to access and where. Sighing, he rubbed his face a bit before putting both hands on the table and leaned over it. Taking one of the scrolls he opened it and started to read it. It was old, very old with a date that put it back before he was even born. It was project, with notes and information that had little relation on where the planet was.

He let his bionics record the hard copies as he started to open one after another. They would have to be reviewed later before he paused hearing something.

The room was empty, but he could have sworn that it sounded like the door had creeped open. Not lifting his head up from where hew as looking, Banal allowed his eyes to slowly scan the room. This had gone smoothly, perhaps too smoothly, and his nerves were heightened making every little noise catch his attention.

Slowly turning the document over Banal stood giving the room a more serious look. His augments flipping through a series of FLIR settings before he stopped on an infer red setting. It didn’t see anything at first but it finally did show something that gave away that some one indeed was in here.

What ever they were using hid them well, what it did not hide was the residual heat from their hand that had pressed to the table next to him. Who ever it was, had been inches away from him. The change in his body language must of spurred the intruder to suddenly attack because suddenly there was a quite puff and a needler round streaked at him before stopping inches from his neck. His personal shielding stopping it in mid air making him go into action.

Thinking fast Banal tore a hydraulic hose in his bionic hand and slung it suddenly across the room. The spray of the fluid spattered about and some of it stayed in mid air. It cost him the movement of three of his fingers but it gave him an idea where the threat was at least. Pointing in the location one of his rings suddenly lanced a high energy EMP in that direction. The air rippling as Andria came into view wiping the hydraulic fluid off her face holding a needler still pointed at Banal. She said nothing but her face was contorted in a look of contempt.

“Andria.” Was all Banal said at first. “What are you doing?” His voice level and neutral though he had brought up his other hand with a serries of rings on it, each having their own little archotech built into them, each could be equally as dangerous as a bolter.

“Exposing a traitor.” She finally said, spatting out and wiping her face one more time.

“That is quite the accusation. On what grounds?” Banal was already giving warning vox signals to his team as he talked.

He didn’t want to have to kill Andria, specially if all she was doing was what all Inquisitors were taught to do.

Instead of answering though, Andria suddenly swapped weapons. Her other hand jerking up a exotic weapon and fired. It was a bit louder and unlike the needler, passed through his shield striking him in the thigh. The round took a good chunk of his thigh with it before embedding into the floor. What ever weapon it was, was a one shot as she tossed it suddenly charging the now prone Inquisitor.

That was when suddenly Risia slammed through the door and slammed into Andria sending her and herself over the table in a flailing and struggling ball of arms and legs. Solorin and Tamara was close behind her. Tamara running to Banal as Solorin rushed in to assist Risia.

Blood was pooling on the floor where Banal was shot but he could see that it missed his main vein that passed through the outside of his thigh. He would live as long as he got medical attention soon. Tamara was already putting pressure on it as Solorin hauled Adria up breaking her arm in his grasp. Risia was already putting a paw over the struggling Inquisitors mouth to muffled the scream of pain as the two worked to disarm her.

“Don…don’t kill her.” Banal hissed out between throngs of pain. The pair was too focused on fighting Andria that, at first, didn’t pay attention before Banal raised his voice. “Do not kill her!”

That got their attention as they ripped away what they hoped to be the last of her weapons. “What happened?!” Risia hissed out, trying to be quite while at the same time keeping Andria quite. The woman having one useless arm and by now Solorin had his large, gauntleted fist, about the back of the woman’s neck forcing her down to the ground.

“She was cloaked.” Banal hissed out as Tamara was trying to tie something around his wound. Though Banal patted her and pointed to the door unable to form the words right away. Nodding she went over to close it as he took in a breath. “When she found out I had noticed her, she attacked.” He breathed out.

“How bad is he?” Risia asked as Tamara came back. “It’s bad but nothing he can’t recover from if we get the right help.”

“She got a vox on her?” Banal asked trying to scoot up against the wall so he could sit up. Risia patted about before finding the electronic gear for a personal vox and nodded pulling it up for Banal to see.

He didn’t know why she assumed his work was treacherous, but he could find out who she might have been talking with through that. “Take it, and take anything else that might give us an idea of what she was doing.” His lips pressing tight as new pain started to throb through his leg.

“Banal?” Solorin simply said. He looked to Solorin, his face paling as he looked from him to Andria. Risia looking at him in a worried way. He hated what he had to do next but nodded “Make it painless.” And after a shift in the large space marine’s posture there was a heavy crack and Andria went limp.

Risia hissed out backing off at the sudden killing of Andria. “Holy Emperor…” The weight of what everyone had just did sort of hanging low in the room. That was when Banal started to feel a more dazed, his world starting to swim before he was unable to keep himself upright and slumped over to the side.


Risia heard Tamara hissed out jerking her paw back after something had cut it. The husky was looking it over keeping her cut paw up under her shoulder.

The feline though kept finding herself looking back to Andria laying there, her head having been twisted in an odd position, they had held her down and killed her, a fellow inquisitor. Though why had she been stalking them? Did she know that they were…. “Risia!” The voice shook her from her thoughts as Solorin gave her a shake. Risia cursed as it should not have held her up like it had. They had tried to kill Issa, though that had been different in that she was actively indulging in a path that was dangerous.

Solorin was moving things out of the way having Risia drag Andria over to hide her as best as they could. Till Risia heard a thump and Tamara say “We have a problem!” What had cut Tamara’s paw was a thin nano wire that was still connected to the projectile that was now imbedded into the floor. All the moving had sent it deeper into Banal’s leg. The line cutting and shredding the humans muscle to the point where he was losing a lot more blood than he originally was.

“BANAL!” Risia dropped Andria and ran over to check on her master. Solorin also stopped what he was doing to go over and quickly break the wire. The inquisitor was dangerously pale and while his eyes were open it was obvious that he was not responsive.

“Tamara grab what you can, get his ident stick!” Solorin was already in motion as Risia was trying her best to keep her masters blood from leaking out as best she could. That was when Solorin came over with an injector of some sort. He had pulled it from one of his many armor compartments and quickly pushed it to the Inquisitors leg. A hiss sounded out that it injected whatever it was, forcing Risia to look to Solorin.

“Hypo blood thickener. Should help with the bleeding but we need to get him back to the ship immediately.”

Nodding, Risia couldn’t help but feel the panic at seeing her master like this. In her years of service to him, Risia had never seen him wounded so badly. Grabbing the weapon that had done this, she quickly started to help Solorin pick up the inquisitor. “We have to be fast.” He said looking at the damaged room and also knowing they needed to make it back to the ship before security asked too many questions.

“Tamara! You got everything?!” The husky giving a thumbs up as with out a word Solorin suddenly opened the door and left the room. Banal cradled in one arm his other ready to take action if need be. Risia was the last out, softly closing the door as she ran after the group hoping that the Archive hadn’t taken too much notice. Eyes were looking there way but no one stopped the group as they made their way to the main door.

The security check point looked up, one of them alarmed at the sight as the large space marine suddenly going past them holding the inquisitor like that.

“Is there so….hey you can’t take anything from the Archive!” He added seeing Tamara with scrolls. Before Tamara could respond Solorin backhanded the guard with such a force that the humans head exploded from his shoulders. The matter splattering the back wall surprising not only the other guard but Risia and Tamara. Risia recovered first, simply pulling out her slug thrower and putting a round in the head of the fellow guard. The body slumping to the ground leaving onlookers gasping at the sudden bout of violence that had happened so quickly.

What amazed Risia is that Solorin had not even missed a step during his attack. He had simply killed the guard and kept going leaving the other to Risia and was already down the hall, pushing through the few individuals left there gawking.

“Shit….” Was all Risia said running to catch up, at this point Solorin had adjusted his brisk walk to a full trot leaving the group to run through the halls.


Tictonia let her eye and lip twitch. The data streams coming in through her ship as she had been getting warning vox’s from the away team. She had rushed the supplies and personnel to get going with undocking procedures.

“Brother Maskis, status of the docking clamps?”

A crackling vox came back “The machines are pleased and compliant, we are almost done.”

“Good, the away team sent another emergency vox. They could be on their way and if there is trouble I want those shackles off my ship.” She sternly said.

“Yes ship mistress, it shall be done.” While Maskis did not have to give her such honor of complying with her will, he and her had a working relationship that stretched back for decades. A partnership and he had no issues complying with her orders. In return, she trusted his knowledge and when he gave her an order about the machines of her ship, she complied.

“Mistress Tictonia, there was an issue, we are coming in hot!”

The voice made the captain pause. “Risia? Where is lord Banal?” A rare hint of worry creeping into her voice. At the same time she notice that the Citadel was coming alive. Vox traffic was starting to flood the channels as she added. “How far are you?”

“We are three hundred meters out, Master Banal is injured badly, have medical staff meet us at the onramp!”

Tictonia’s mind was already impulsing her orders about the ship as she checked on the status of her ship. Other ships were already starting their pre burn startups. Her sensors detecting the heat blooms of the plasma warmers as well as some of the weapon systems coming online.
“It seems the hornet’s nest has been kicked.” Tictonia muttered, gritting her teeth as she knew this was going to get messy fast.


End Chapter 10 Secrets and Lies.

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