Chapter 1 Part 7

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Inquisition

=ATBS=

Part 7​

Stonecutter village

Deimos Peninsula

Kronus

A few hours later we reached a small settlement nestled in a valley below the plateau dominating the southern part of the peninsula. Through it laid the most direct and fastest land route to our target.

It was a good place to ask a few questions of the locals. First I needed to know if the Inquisitor had passed through here and as important, to figure out what was he seeking in this part of Kronus. So far Deimos and the surrounding provinces were mostly untouched by the war save for the occasional Orkish raid.

That was the plan anyway. It hit a snag before we even parked in the small square that served as a center for the village.

One would expect to find a lot of onlookers when a platoon of Imperial Guardsmen accompanied by an Astrates arrive at their doorstep.

That would have been normal.

There was not a single person outside when we parked in the plaza.

"It's too quiet, sir." Santos muttered quietly. The Corporal was carefully studying the surrounding buildings through a gunport.

"That's probably the first time outside of an active warzone that I don't see bystanders gawking at us. The Space Marine by himself would guarantee that everyone who could would be outside looking.

"Or running for the hills. In either case we would have heard or saw someone." Valencia added.

"Weapons on the ready." I spoke quietly and drew my pistol. My right hand fell on the hilt of my sword.

We weren't the only ones to smell trouble. The rest of the Guardsmen dispersed immediately after leaving the Chimeras and got under whatever cover they could. The only one who stood seemingly without a trouble in the world was the Librarian, though he had pulled his warhammer out of its compartment.

I sighed and concentrated, before carefully touching the Warp.

There were… echoes of pain and terror. An odd feeling that resembled death but not quite. Yet, they both felt somewhat subdued.

There were no living people here beside us that I could sense, though that was no guarantee. I had to pull back from the Warp as my head started pounding almost immediately. The Immaterium felt eager, almost hungry. As if it was holding its breath, while it was waiting for something.

That wasn't a nice sensation at all.

"This settlement is empty." Anteas voice was quieter, merely the volume of a rather loud man.

"Leftenant, sent a few squads to check the nearby buildings. Men don't leave your buddies out of your sight. There's something very wrong here." I added. The last I spoke quietly so they won't hear it.

Thad didn't help with the Librarian who inclined his head in my direction.

"Walk with me. We'll check the Chapel." Anteas ordered.

I shrugged and walked fast after him. At least he took care to walk reasonably slowly so we wouldn't need to run after him to keep up. The Stormtroopers fell in behind me and I saw the Leftenant wave a squad to follow us. She and two fire-teams remained with the vehicles, while the rest of the platoon moved toward the nearest buildings.

"Aren't you curious?" The Astartes asked when we caught up with him.

"About what, My Lord?"

His helmeted head swiveled my way and he gave me a pointed look. I didn't know that a Space Marine helmet could convey so much.

"Truth to be told, yes. At best I expected your Captain to send the lowest-ranked Astartes under his command. Instead we got you, My Lord. Unless I'm very much mistaken, your armor and all the seals on it signify that you aren't just any odd Blood Raven Librarian, which is even more surprising."

"Makes no damn sense, you mean." Was that amusement I could hear in his voice?!

I shrugged. It didn't.

"That was Thule's plan you know. To sent you a pair of Scout Marines, who are due for punishment detail."

I nodded. That was much more likely.

"I disagreed. Finding Requista is the most expedient way to stop this madness." Anteas sighed. "Unfortunately, the Captain doesn't believe him to be alive any longer. Not after being out of contact for a week now. That very well may be the case, though I had to take the chance. The alternative..."

"The Inquisition and Segmentum Command won't be thrilled when they learn about what has already happened. Any more skirmishes between Imperial forces for no good reason would be frowned upon at best."

"Indeed. Unfortunately our orders don't leave much for interpretation and Captain Thule isn't prepared to breach them even if it mean evicting the Imperial Guards from Kronus."

"I guess that as strongly worded suggestion from an Inquisitor would give the Captain the latitude he needs so we can concentrate on dealing with the Xenos?"

"That's why I'm here. There are some of us that would take any chance to avoid spilling innocent human blood." The Librarian spoke quietly.

We were about to reach the Chapel. It was only a short alley away, one which was flanked by statues of Imperial Saints. Acting out of habit, I made the sigh of the Aquila and bowed my head.

"Do you smell that?" Dole asked. I could hear him sniffing behind me.

A light wind blew towards us from the direction of the Chapel and I could barely make out the scent too. It was the coppery stench of blood and it had to be an awful lot of it if we could smell from our position.

"Set up to provide cover!" I snapped at the Guardsmen following us. "Santos, prepare to breach. Check for traps first."

"No need. I'll lead the way." The Astartes rumbled and strode towards the Chapel.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was fine with forced entry today. The Astartes pressed a rune on the hilt of his weapon and pale lighting started dancing around its head. He swung the warhammer as if it was a toy and simply shattered the door standing in his way.

The afternoon sun shone through the entrance, bathing the interior of the Chapel in its rays.

"Fuck me with a Baneblade!" Santos exclaimed. He was the first of us ordinary humans to see what was inside thanks to the tech built into his helmet.

Anteas was busy muttering a prayer for the dead, though his head was swiveling this way and that as he studied the interior of the Chapel. That's when I was finally able to see what awaited us inside.

The place resembled an old battlefield. The floor was covered with shattered and burned wood, though it was hard to make under the film of blood covering most of it. The walls were liberally sprayed with dry flaking blood, though I could see deep gashes in the stone where great claws had cleaved it without any trouble at all.

There were no bodies or even pieces of such, though there was more than enough blood spilled to account for at least couple of dozen people.

"May the Emperor damn whoever did this." I hissed.

I closed my eyes and opened my mind to the Warp, while steeling myself for what was to come. The echoes of pain, suffering and terror were still here, though muted again. As if whatever had happened was hundreds of years ago at least and not in the last few days.

It made no damned sense! My head should be splitting from the screams of the dying. I should be feeling the psychic imprint of their souls as they were murdered.

"Curious, isn't it?" A deep voice boomed in my head.

Suddenly, there was a figure wreathed in light towering next to me. It was Anteas all right. His very soul shone with its purity and power.

"That's not how I would put this." I waved around us.

While the Warp continued to be wild and angry around us, the Librarian's presence next to me made it bearable. My head did hurt a bit, but nowhere near what I expected.

What didn't change was the feeling of foreboding. Of eager expectation for something to happen.

It wasn't going to be anything good for us.

"No. There's something afoot in this place, something familiar." Anteas frowned. "I can't sense what did this." He waved at the bloody floor. "There should be something. An imprint, a resonance left from whoever did it."

"It's as if they had no presence in the Warp." I muttered.

"Exactly!" The Librarian exclaimed. "That would account for the way the murders feel. Blanks perhaps? This at least isn't the work of Chaos. We would have known it at first sight."

"Considering that the Inquisitor came here to seek Heretics, this isn't reassuring. The last thing we need is another enemy."

"True. There isn't anything more we could find out right now."

The shining presence next to me became muted as Anteas pulled out of the Warp.

I was back firmly in my body moments later, still feeling the aftereffects of my little excursion.

"Don't give me that. I want you to check all reports of vanished people and see if there are any other settlements we've lost contact with without a good reason." Anteas was speaking aloud over the Vox built in his helmet.

It was a good idea. I would have Leftenant Pickos report back to base so they could check too.