Warhammer 40,000: Stavrakis- The Hunt For Valakt

Diabolus Extremis

Facts: Civilians turned into cultists, attack and kill Inquisition agents. Evidence found points towards a possible rogue Inquisitor, and the only thing I am sure of is that it is an Inquisitor. Rogue, controlled, turned to Chaos, I don't know. Door codes were entirely re-written, data banks erased and whole floors of automated defenses shut down.

"No other life-forms showing on Auspex commander." Came the report from the mercenaries. I had tasked them with sweeping all common areas. So far nothing has come up. I also sent Gro'Kna back to the shuttle, so that he could maybe Vox a report to Edmund. Hopefully the entire spire wasn't being blocked. I also gave him special instructions to give to our only unlisted passenger.

I had been wandering for a good thirty minutes when I caught a stench. Blood. Lots of it, and dried. Stale. Damn. I checked the powercell on my laspistol. Half charge. Should be plenty. How many more cultists would I have to deal with?

With my blade ignited, I followed the stench to one of the private lounge areas. Here, Inquisitors would have relaxed in a level of comfort most planetary Governers could only dream of. One of our faults, I must admit. Not anymore, judging from the corpses littering the floor. Fully a third of our field Inquisitors lay here. Dead. I frowned. This seemed more and more the result of an attack of Chaos, not just a rogue Inquisitor. 

I held my pistol in front of me as I advanced. This blood was definitely dry, I noticed. When did any of this happen? I made sure the room was empty before I started examining the bodies. I wish I had not. Huge gashes marked each corpse, chunks of flesh ripped off and discarded. What did this? The attack marks certainly didn't match anything i've ever seen as an Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos.

"What the fuck." I muttered to myself. I tossed an errant arm behind me, examining the next corpse. Same result. Some great beast I couldn't even begin to imagine, had been brought here and let loose. I tossed more loose body parts behind me, revealing a face. Shit. My mood was darkening with every passing second. It was Inquisitor Saul. Probably the most capable of all of us. We had reached the rank of Inquisitor together, and we had both drunk ourselves stupid that day. If Gro'Kna was my best friend, I would consider Saul to be my brother.

"You were better than me Saul. I wish I could have been here." I lamented. Enough.

I stood up and brushed myself off. We Inquisitors pride ourselves on being able to perform at maximum efficiency no matter the circumstances. Emotions cloud judgement, and have no place in the life of an Inquisitor. We need to be clinical, precise and confident. 

Not now. I drew my blade and set the power field to its maximum output. Comically, the cutting field was now the size of a greatsword, and it was so powerful now that the field became opaque. I stalked out the door, towards the quarters of my Lord Inquisitor.

At the door stood two men. They looked like the personal bodyguards of the Lord Inquisitor. As I got closer, I could make out a few key differences. These men had no visor, or helmet. Their armour was not matte-black, nor was it stamped with the Inquisition sigil. They carried power axes instead of hellguns. Time to die, I thought grimly. They saw my coming down the corridor. The one on the left hung back, voxing out to whoever was listening. I didn't care. The one on the right unhooked his axe, powered up its power field and walked out to meet me.

We stopped 25 metres away from each other.

"State your na-" One started.

I threw my Rosette at his feet. They stared at it, then looked at me.

"I am Inquisitor Stavrakis. By the authority granted to me by his Majesty, The God Emperor, I declare you, your associate and your master Thrice damned by actions, associations and manifest disbelief." I had my voice raised now so that his comrade could hear me. I was done playing games with these clowns.