A Monster in Hell: A 40K Story

Chapter-25

"On your orders, the old STCs for the Solar Generators have been put to use, for setting up multiple Solar Generators across various Forges, increasing their production by 248%. The attempts have been made to bait the Dark Eldar Witch Aurelia Malys into a trap. It stands to reason that the Panacea and other STCs she has stolen for us are still with her, so our attempts to bring her out with the bait of slaves and other trophies are still for naught."

"Let me look at the reports," I told Tyrell, and the man handed me a number of files. I looked through the reports before palming my forehead at the Imperium's stupidity: "Well... if you actually want to lay a trap, maybe make it more believable? How incompetent is the Inquisition? And who sent a Culexus Assassin into the fray? We need that woman alive!"

"Lord-Inquisitor Emil Darkhammer, my Lord."

Ah. That piece of shit.

"Well... then we need an inquiry into him. This idiot Monodominant Puritan with his love of compromising pragmatic objectives with the love of killing Xenos is a liability to the Inquisition. Perhaps a more suitable bait is required. Hmm... the wretched alley cat is yet to appear in the warzones yet, which probably means she sniffed out potential traps. Honestly, with the incompetence of half the Inquisition, anyone can sense a trap laid by those idiots. It was better in Nihilus when all the competent ones threw in behind me, and everything got done smoothly," I complained, irritated.

Like honestly, my plan to use Aurelia Malys to recover the STCs and eventually overthrow Asdubeal Vect and Commorragh was in a fix because of the incompetence of the Inquisition. Like how could you indoctrinate someone without capturing them? She was a fine lady, and a fine source for information. Perhaps a secret entrance into the Webway or two, even the location of the fool Cegorach... and anyway, the bitches always fell for my charm. Vect was a dangerously cunning guy, and Malys was his equal. And by goodness perhaps I could discover Eldar substitutes for Dark Age Technology when I razed Commorragh to the ground.

Hmm.

My long-term plan to perpetuate my power was going to be in jeopardy without a strong military success that instilled faith in people. The revolutions at Galaspar and Necris, and the victories of Titan and Tesla Prime had quickly led to a destruction of what remained of Sanctus as the Ulik Sector imploded into civil war.

The halls of the Imperial Palace were enormous, and I was, in fact, walking down to a courtroom the Custodians had prepared for the trial. The major offenders included the Fabricator-General Oud Oudia Raskian, the Ecclesiarch Pius Gaia, and the Master of the Administratum, Irthu Haemotalion. Several Lord-Inquisitors were also included.

I walked into an expansive courtroom decked in gold, where the offenders of Sanctus were led in by the Custodians in chains, the golden armor of the Empress' greatest defenders blending perfectly in with the color of the room. The High Lords had arrived already, their own judgment required, because this was an unique trial, that no ordinary Arbiter could judge. 

Supreme Moff Tyrell himself was prosecuting the criminals on behalf of the Imperium.

"You stand here accused of multiple individual and collective crimes, including treason, corruption, assassinations of loyal officers and bureaucrats, genocide of entire populations without cause, espionage, war with malicious interest, and countless other crimes that will take days to elaborate completely. How do you plead?"

I saw  the Custodians and even the conspirators look at me sharply, extremely taken aback.

"What does the plea entail?"

Luckily, I had made the High Lords and Tyrell read the new reforms I had passed to make the Lex Imperialis slightly less fucked-up. So it was Captain-General Trajann Valoris (who, as you may remember, is also a High Lord), who answered.

"You have, so far, two options. A plea of innocence or guilt. They will be taken after you swear an oath to the Empress to be truthful and completely transparent. If you plead guilty, the trial will proceed to the sentencing, and because of candid admission, the sentencing will be considerably... less harsh. If you plead innocent however, the real trial will begin. If innocent, you will be cleared of charges, but if you are found guilty, the sentence will be considerably more harsh. I believe you have been informed of your rights. Are your witnesses, evidence and defense prepared?"

"...Yes." Lord-Inquisitor William Sikes responded, a tiny flicker of hope in his eyes and the eyes of the rest of the offenders.

The fucking idiots.

"Very well," Decius took their oaths and their pleas of innocence before the trial began.

"We shall begin with the charges of the assassination of Lord Solar Macharius, architect of the Macharian Crusade, conqueror of a thousand worlds, and explorer of the Halo Stars..."

*******************************************

"No! NO!" screamed Gaia, as he was led away for his... um, remedial punishments--- before his execution.

The idiots had thought they could exploit their influence to corrupt the High Lords and win their innocence by the abuse of a fair trial. In truth, this trial had only been fair to see their influence within Imperium Sanctus: who represented them, provided their witnesses, their bribes and helped them out. This trial had exposed all remaining influence on Sanctus, and the Grand Master, according to the plan, deployed Assassins to purge them. This completely cleared any remaining conservative influence, turning the Imperium firmly in a reformist direction. The gravity of the trial was huge, so traitors were exposed on a galactic scale, and purged quickly. Our evidence was more or less conclusive, our prosecutor a genius, our laws just tilted enough to make a difference, our witnesses sound, our judgement fair... to the people and officers of the Imperium.

With the influence lost in the Imperium, infighting in the Ulik Sector, death of their leadership and the advance of the Imperium Eterna (as people now called it), the resistance would collapse quickly. 

My plans slowly uncovered: no, wait a second. Why should I reveal everything to you at once? You are reading a historical document outlining my truth which I had hidden for centuries. 

Anyway...

"That was an excellent strategy, my Lord! Imperium Sanctus will not trouble us again!" Ravenor looked cheerful, too cheerful for his usual cold behavior.

It was slightly suspicious. Ravenor looked like he was about to hug me...

Before I was shanked in the stomach with a Fulgurite-Blackstone Blade.

Fuck. Another dose of pain hit me as he shanked me multiple times in the stomach. Before the Custodian Guard stabbed several spears into his back.

I heard Liana scream, and Lictor al-Wazir and Dyson call for help, even as Kitten and Kesh, their outlines blurry, lift me up, several people barking sharp orders. Trajann Valoris and some of the military leaders were barking sharp orders to lock the palace down and deploy another purge. 

Then everything went black.

(A/N:

1. Cliffhanger! The Supreme Leader has been assassinated, or at least Ravenor attempted to assassinate him. What the hell just happened? The Supreme Leader was winning, his genius plan to draw all Sanctus supporters in the net was foolproof, and everything proceeded as he had foreseen. 

2. It was quite clear that the Supreme Leader had succeeded. More or less Sanctus has been smashed and Abaddon has been killed.)