A Monster in Hell: A 40K Story

Chapter-29

I observed the remains of several major Chaos Warlords and commanders.

As far as I knew, this was not the work of an ordinary Assassin. This was the work of a powerful thing: even a demigod if I dare spoke it. The brutality of it reminded me of old days. The various offenders had been flayed alive, stripped of their flesh, some of their skeletons crucified, and their guts pulled out. Some had missing eyes and limbs. Some had their dicks fused to their mouths and some had their eyes stuck in their collective asses.

Hmm. Strange. Perhaps it was one of the Night Lords? No... what use would the Night Lords have in killing allies?

Anyway.

The fact that Huron's Blackstone Fortress, complete with some of his most powerful, salvageable weapons and the bodies of many of his commanders were turning up... was a testament to the fact that something else was at play, perhaps.

"How large may the hands be?"

Perhaps it was a Space Marine.

"Well... all concrete evidence has been removed, but I can say confidently that they were larger than your average Space Marine," Lord-Inquisitor Tyson Rex explained, the leader of the Ordo Malleus. "Perhaps a Dreadnought--- or somewhat around the size."

After Lady-Inquisitor Vail (who was likely to join me with updates shortly) had been appointed Leader of the Ordo Xenos, and Octavian had been appointed Lord-Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus (after he had given me the Blackstone Fortress), I had needed someone to become Lord-Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus, and Rex had proven himself worthy enough, becoming one of the most extensive and expansive networks of information. He was the one who had run the networks that kept us ahead of the enemy during the Black Crusade, and he was the one who had struck down millions of targets in the Red Crusade through his remote networks. 

He was, in other words, the shadow behind the throne that kept the Inquisition running.

As I said... all you had to do was to keep the spirit of Sebastian Thor running. Just like the Age of Apostasy, I had enacted several changes and actually won the support of many: elite, commoners and officers. Essentially, that and the purges had cleaned out everything. Still... some of the things I had done could get me executed for Heresy (like UR-025's allowance).

And in the right atmosphere, the right people were abundant. They would perpetuate my legacy.

After this war, I was going back to Titan and the Imperial Palace. They could be a useful source of information.

Hmm...

But now, the murderer had to be found. 

I used my mental energy to carefully look around, scan energy signatures on the ship. Few signs of life. Only the exploration team that had come with me had survived... and... were less than I had brought with me?

Most of those who had come with me were in the room or around it. The others were missing: their energy signatures had been obliterated. My mind focused further, rooting out heartbeats---

There was something at one Beat Per Minute.

How huge was this thing? Definitely not a Titan... a Bio-Titan perhaps? Maybe this was a Great Devourer invasion? Maybe a Hive Fleet had sensed my presence to lure me into a trap? Were they kill both Chaos and Imperium followers because their thing was to consume biomass? Alright... that was plausible.

Where was this energy signature again?

Two floors below... close to the engine room. Hmm.