Secret War: The Annihilation Plague (Part 2)

Chapter 17

 The star-coated clear sky of night and the rays of moonlight wafted into the lounge as Arlathan held the vox horn to his ear.

'As per your request, I have sent out the astropathic communications,' said Enandra. 'Hopefully, they'll be received soon, and we'll get reinforcements. I have also had the Audacious Edge and The Xenocide begin moving into the system as close as possible if you need Stormtrooper reinforcement but to keep the potential of detection low. I fear me going down waving my rosette might not be a good idea right now. Are you sure you do not wish for backup yet?'

Arlathan gave Tathe a glance, the former commissar, Karmen and Darrance loitered in the lounge as Vex sat at the vox caster, headphone pushed on one ear as he monitored vox traffic, then he would glance, then type on his cogitator ever so often.

'Yes, mamzel. We need to gather more information first,' said Arlathan.

'Are you sure it is worth the time and resources to infiltrate the Arbites? You have enemy Chaos Marines on the planet.'

'Yes, mamzel, we must not forget our true enemy and how they work, and if the Adeptus Arbites are not allied with Etuarq's people and they aren't corrupted, making sure they can be allies will be worth the effort.'

'I see,' said Enandra. 'Your logic is sound, Interrogator. Maybe if they aren't aligned with the heretical elements, they might investigate the incident at the medicae facility and uncover the evil horrid things that are going on there. Make sure to inform Dellenger that I think he did an excellent job and not to beat himself up too much about it.'

'Of course, mamzel,' said Arlathan. 'Heard anything from Attelus yet?'

'I have not, Arlathan, but I did not expect to hear from Attelus for a little while yet. But wait for another eight hours. If Attelus has not reported with me, I will not call you, so would you have Karmen Kons go incorporeal and check on him?'

That made Arlathan pause, and he exchanged a glance with Karmen. 'Understood, but it could be risky.'

'I know, but I have faith in Karmen's abilities to remain undetected.'

'Yes, understood, Inquisitor.'

'You sound off put by this, Arlathan. You know I care for my people. Why are you surprised?'

'Not sure.'

'Okay, Arlathan. Well, you have walked into a veritable shit-storm, and thus, I wish you and your team the best of luck.'

'Thank you, mamzel, Enandra, we'll need it.'

She cut the link.

Arlathan looked at Darrance and nodded. The master assassin nodded back and then left the room.

He turned to Karmen. 'No sign of any psychic activity?'

Karmen pouted and shook her head. 'No, if they had psykers looking over the city, it might have occurred when I was recovering from covering our escape. The psychic blocks on us would prevent them from finding us, anyway.'

'I know that, Karmen. But what about our prisoner?'

Karmen nodded. 'I placed a temporary block on his mind during our interrogation; it was a rushed one, though, so not comparable to ours. I added it on top of his original one. If the enemy did use psykers to find us, and it did not work, hundreds of enemy militia would have besieged this shit hole of a building already.'

Arlathan thought on that, trying to think of a good "Attelus" paranoid way of doubting Karmen's logic, but he couldn't find anything.

'How long before we can penetrate his block, do you think?'