The WH40k RP - Talio Secundus

Mikey
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Re: The WH40k RP - Talio Secundus

Post by Mikey »

Milo had been carefully arranging his cloak to cover his pistols when Pahr had approached him about the assassin's dream. Still unsettled by the feeling of emptiness emanating from Pahr - as if there was nobody actually there - Trask composed himself and answered, "As an agent of the Inquisition, I can't say anything; the mission ahead of us is all that matters. As a humble servant of the Emperor, and an erstwhile shepherd of His flock... such a vision is doubly intriguing, coming from an omega-plus assignment such as yourself. Does it mean that you will sacrifice yourself in some way for our safety or success? Maybe it means that you have already sacrificed, being possessed of the Pariah gene, and that this will be instrumental to us? I don't know. The brothers of the Officio Assassinorum are known as vital tools of the Imperium - I believe that this is due less to their unique abilities, and more to their dedication and piety to the Emperor." Pahr seemed humbled by the compliment but less than satisfied with the answer. Trask continued, "I can tell you this for certain - your faith, your zeal, and your gift will serve the Throne well."

Pahr bowed his head slightly and said, "Thank you, interrogator. Throne protect you."

"It will. And the Emperor's gaze will be upon you from now until His rebir- er... until the end." Pahr looked at the interrogator's face quizzically for a moment, and Trask hurried to attend some meaningless adjustment of his gear. Galatea emerged from the cellar staircase, and Trask quickly motioned her towards the door.

It was a short walk to the dilapidated chapel that served as the center on the Imperial cult in Sociona. Incartarus made the sign of the aquila as they approached, while Milo just clucked in disapproval at the state of the house of worship. "I don't know if the state of this area is reflected in the condition of this church, or if the state of the church is a cause for the condition of the town," he muttered, half to himself. Galatea turned her eyes toward him, and nodded sagely. Trask laughed hoarsely and said, "I am a simple priest, turned toward another means of serving the Emperor. Not everything I say needs to be treated like a writ from Holy Terra."

"Sorry," the novice said quietly. "I didn't mean to..."

"Nonsense," answered Trask. "But in my apprenticeship to the Inquisition, one thing I'm learning is that there are countless servants of the Imperium who can blindly follow orders - the ones who will make a difference are the ones who can think for themselves... who can consciously apply their skills to their faith, and to their service to the Imperium of Man. Ah, here we are," he finished as they climbed the shallow steps up to the doors of the church. The paint on the doors was fading and peeling, and their hinges made a squeal of age and ill repair as Milo pushed one of the massive doors open. The interior of the church was dim from the haze on the windows and the marked absence of glowglobes. The only light at all came from an array of candleabras, tables full of votive candles, and a line of braziers down each long wall.

As Galatea's eyes (and Trask's one biological eye) adjusted to the dim light, both of them simultaneously caught their breath. The interior of the chapel was as breathtakingly appointed as the outside was decrepit. Well-polished, seemingly-genuine hardwood pews filled the floor of the chapel; an exquisitely gilded statue of the Emperor stood against the back wall, under a golden chandelier. The carpet in the aisle between the pews and on the dais itself was plush and unstained, and the walls were covered by unfaded hangings. The tapestries were exquisite: one depicted the Emperor smiting Horus, while another showed a stylization of the Emperor imprisoning the Dragon of Mars. The arras on the far wall, behind the dais and the statue, was less clear - it seemed to be a picture of a sun disc or some such, with only two uneven rays, but the mottled colors made it difficult to pick out the shapes at all. Trask chalked it up to the fairly common practice of incorporating preexisting local religions into the the implantation of the Imperial Cult.

"What can I help you with, children?" asked a soft-spoken voice. A rotund, balding man in a preist's cassock emerged from rectory and hurried down the aisle toward them. He stopped short as he caught a better view of Incartarus' imposing armor and the wide-barreled meltagun hanging from her shoulder.

"Go with me," Trask muttered under his breath to Galatea, then addressed the priest. "Perhaps you can, brother." Milo twitched his cloak to fully reveal the heavy golden aquila hanging on his chest. "Sister Incartarus here is a novice of the Order of the Bloody Rose." Incartarus cocked her head at the outright lie - her armor didn't even match the color scheme of the Sisters of Battle order - but Trask continued, "I have been showing her around the sector which will become her charge. Helican has been our first tour. We have been to Thracian Primaris of course, then Gudrun, and now here on Talio Secundus." Trask prayed that a simple backwater priest wouldn't be familiar with the livery of the Adepta Sororitas.

His hope seemed to be rewarded. "Welcome, then! A fellow priest of the Temple of the Savior Emperor is always welcome, as is the much rarer occasion of meeting one the Emperor's brides." Milo scowled at the extraordinarily archaic references, but quickly ascribed it to the rather out-of-the-way nature of both the town and the planet.

"You have a beautiful church here," Trask commented cordially. "I've seen many larger towns, hives even, with less well-appointed chapels."

The fat priest burbled, as if paid a personal compliment, "Yes, well, we've seemed to finally come across better times." Trask filed for later reference the dichotomy between that comment and the sorry state of the local area, but allowed the priest to continue, "We have both the full support of the municipal government and the interest of Cardinal Diem. The cardinal has been generous with support of this diocese, as well as interest in maintaining the spiritual health of Sociona." A small frown slowly crawled across the priest's face. "What parish did you say you were from?"

"I didn't," Trask replied. Rolling up his sleeves, he held up his arms to let the priest see his tattoos. "Before my assignment to help indoctrinate young Sisters, I was the priest of a Guard regiment. And it certainly does seem like the good cardinal has been beneficent."

The priest began to babble on, his train of thought now back on track. "Indeed. I can't imagine what sort of reward is returned for his interest in a small parish like this - Cardinal Diem must be motivated by nothing other than his dedication to the Church and his flock."

"The Emperor must truly have his eye upon the cardinal," Trask murmured. "Perhaps I should take the Sister to his see. Thank you for your time."

As the doors closed behind Incartarus and Trask, she turned and said, "What did he mean by 'Emperor's brides?'"

"An ancient term," Trask explained. That's what Vandire called the Daughters of the Emperor when he tricked them into becoming his personal troops during the Age of Apostasy. They finally saw the Emperor's light, and killed Vandire for his heresy. Afterward, they became the Adepta Sororitas. There must be a very odd influence at work to bring that reference into the vernacular. I must check on that, as well as the good cardinal's interest in this place. We'll see what the others are able to find." The two walked down the street as they were talking, and failed to notice the priest standing in the church doorway peering after them.
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Mikey
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Re: The WH40k RP - Talio Secundus

Post by Mikey »

Von Hydden was growing steadily more weary of Naja's High Gothic vernacular. To Enrick's ears, it was an indicator of having bought a position with status, rather than earning it through training and will. The successes Naja had garnered were beside that point.

"Think you that we may find something of note from these local dirt farmers?" Octavian was asking?

"We'll find something," von Hydden growled. "There's always something. What people won't tell you is sometimes more important than what they will." The pair approached the local enforcement office - distinguished from the other ramshackle buildings only by the seal of the province above the doorway - and entered. A sleepy and overweight official looked up from the reception desk.

"What can we help you with?" said the man, surprised by the presence of visitors but not surprised enough to get out of his chair.

"I have a question about the fire the other night," Naja said casually. At this, the man rose, displaying faded and outdated fatigues and a holstered, battered-looking stub pistol.

The official's eyes narrowed. "What kind of question would you have about it?"

"I'm getting ready to ship out - the captain here says my IG regiment is forming up in two weeks on Gudrun." The official nodded, as if his half-hearted service to his local provincial agency somehow equated with Imperial Guard service. Naja continued, "You know how it is, right? You go to serve, but you can't trust the people you protect." The offical nodded more vigorously, and grunted for emphasis as well. "Anyway, I rented a little corner of that warehouse, and I want to know if there's any info yet on who's supposed to make good on my stuff. All I have - er, had - was my GI lasgun, and the few things that just burned."

The heavy local agent leaned over his desk and beckoned, making Naja and von Hydden lean close. Quietly, he said, "I hear tell there were cultists involved. Nobody knows what they might have been after."

"Cultists?" broke in von Hydden. "Here?"

"That's strictly off the books," the agent said. "Official word is that they were gangers from Hive Primus, creating trouble as part of some initiation. Top guys say the cult stuff was put-on."

"'Top guys?' You mean, the guys who won't let you do your own job?" Naja asked.

The official nodded at his new-found kindred soul, and simply jerked his thumb backwards. Following the gesture, Naja and von Hydden saw a trio of full-fledged arbiters, fully armored in black. One of the arbiters noticed their glance and looked up, peering intently at their faces. At a word from him, the other two scattered into the recesses of the building. The first arbiter strode up behind the agent, looked down at a cogitator on the agent's desk, and said coldly, "Cultists? Hardly. But I do understand your concern for your belongings, citizen."

"Corporal," Naja corrected the arbiter.

"Just so, then," the senior Arbites responded. "Perhaps if you could give me your name and location, I could contact you when information presents itself? You and the officer here, since he seems concerned."

"No telling when we'll be moving on to collect other NCO's," von Hydden jumped in. "I guess we'll just check back later."

"As you wish," the Arbites said, his eyes unreadable behind his helmet. Casting his gaze downward over Naja's form, he added, "The Gudrunite Rifles equip their non-coms well."

"Indeed," Naja replied after a brief pause. "There's sedition on Respa III, and there might be PDF vehicles involved."

"We'll have to be off," von Hydden hurriedly added. The arbiter's skeptical expression was clear even through his visor. As von Hydden and Naja exited the building, the senior Arbites raised on hand in a gesture. The other two Arbites left through side doors two minutes later.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
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Re: The WH40k RP - Talio Secundus

Post by Monroe »

Octavian glanced behind them at the defense building they had just left, "Those cocksuckers inside are maliciously keeping their justice blind and inert to the dangers eating at them as carcinogens would devour an unfaithful. Those fuckers are hiding something."

Von Hydden sighed, "They're arbites, of course they are."

"They're dead cocksuckers if those fuckers think that for one moment my eye isn't trained on eavesdroppers and vagabonds seeking to bring about premature end to our Imperial discourse in truth." Octavian motioned with his head to a nearby alleyway. It was surprisingly secluded for being this close to the local planetary defense branch but it allowed both Hydden and Naja to take cover behind a bend in the architecture on opposing walls and giving them concealment.

"Why would they follow us?" Hydden asked stealing a glance around his corner.

"I never successfully portrayed acting to an apt manner and no cocksucking air-bite justice Ork of any skill, not that I give them a high sense of faith, would fall for it. But I could be erroneous." Octavian pulled out his dagger and waited patiently.
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Re: The WH40k RP - Talio Secundus

Post by Aaron »

"You come now, enough stalling!" Stig bellowed, gesturing at the Pariah to follow, he grabbed the doctor and hauled him up the stairs and out of the safe house. "We get this over with, then roast some meat, yes?" Glancing down at the provided slate, he shook his head and turned Pahr, "you work, tell us where we go!"
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Re: The WH40k RP - Talio Secundus

Post by Aaron »

Stig was starting to get angry, he and the odd Spacer had been listening to the Doctor prattle on with an Administratum lackey for ages. The drone had given him and the Pariah several nervous glances, obviously uneasy with the weapons festooning them. He had already gone through several bottle of his mead and examined the room several times before he finally snapped.

Pushing the Doctor roughly out of the way, he seized the Adept by the front of his robes and pulled him close enough that the man could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"You! Take us to what we need or I eat you! Slowly!"

The Adept let out a whimper, a dark stain spreading on the front of his clothing and a foul smell emanated from his fundament.

"Thi...thi...this way sirs!" He stammered and lead the team into the bowls of what appeared to be a file storage room, various boxes, slates and scrolls where scattered over shelves and piled haphazardly on the floor.

Stig let out a frustrated sigh, this looked like it would take a while.
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Re: The WH40k RP - Talio Secundus

Post by Deepcrush »

Enrick slipped an autopistol from his belt. "Well I'm so glad that they sent me an undercover agent with such amazing schooling." Slipping a silencer into place. "Next, you'll start dancing in the street with a pink tutu and get mistaken for a feminine Ork."

Octavian glared at Enrick. "Fuck you, what the hell do you know!"

Enrick handed Octavian a frag mine. "I know that you'd love nothing more then set this off over by the small gas tank which would look like a lovely accident." Checking his pistol mag and slapping it back into place. "At least until the shooting starts. You carrying any firearms?"
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