40K Dark Heresy: The Danse Macabre

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-02-12 10:27pm

Chapter One
The Life of the Party

Across the Calixis sector, a lone Imperial vessel braved the dangers of the warp, stopping at several systems to do its business, and on each stop, in addition to pick up supplies, cargo, and the latest news, certain individuals were brought aboard. Servitors brought them to solitary rooms, tended to their basic needs, and watched with listless, ever watching eyes.

Much time passed, and each individual was kept in strict isolation from the rest of the ship, the only ones they had to talk to were the servitors, who simply talked about the value of patience. Day after day, the routine was the same, until finally one day, while each individual was sleeping, the servitors opened the door and stated a simple phrase twisted through their voice synthesizers, "The time has come. With me now."

Through the battered bulkheads that had clearly seen numerous sorts of violence over the years, each individual was lead towards the bridge of the ship. The nerve center of the ship was stained with the fatigue of centuries, its crew hunched over the consoles that connected them to the various functions of the ship. Lights flickered on and off as loose connections were jostled by the vibrations of the ship.

An imposing figure stood in the center of the room, a hard man wearing the uniform of the Imperial Guard, emblazoned with the symbol of his rank. Any familiar with the basics of guard structure would recognize the rank as Captain. He eyed the assembled acolytes with a hardened gaze, sizing each of them up. A deadly air eminated from him, and his very expression demanded silence and attention. “At ease,” he intoned to the group, nodding to the guardsmen in attendance. “Right then. I've selected you lot from a list of hopefuls. You're not lucky, chosen, or favored. All you are is good enough to die for the Emperor. I chose you because I figure the lot of you are stubborn enough that when you die, you'll at least die doing your duty and not cowering in a puddle of your own piss.

“Now then, let's do some introductions. I am Captain Greis of the Hellforged Legion as far as anyone cares. The truth is that I am here as a personal favor to Inquisitor Skane, who is why you are all here. Now I love the Imperial Guard, but the way I way I see it, with the Guard or with Her, every day is a day when I can wrap my hands around the throat of one of the Emperor's enemies and watch the light go out of their eyes, and I thank the Emperor every day he blesses me with his work, no matter how he has me go about it.

"Inquisitor Skane got you lot together because she thinks that you might make the grade. She gave you to me because she knows I love to make sure she only gets the very best. My way is simple. You become the best, or you die gloriously in the Emperor's name," he gave a wide, menacing smile. "Either way, I don't care. You lot wouldn't be the first or last that ended up as maggot meat.

“Now, I have your files, so I know all of you just as much as I need to. You can say hello after we're done here. Let me just say that I expect you all to work together. Yes, there are psykers among you. Yes, there are murderers. You will work with them, and you will watch that they not fail. I expect you all to work around any differences you might have, or Emperor help me I will do my very best impression of the Commissariat and show you the light of the Emperor's way.

“I've wasted enough time on things you all should already know, so here's what you need to know. Inquisitor Skane and I have found hints at corruption on the planet Archaos. The details are scant, but the charges are dire. All we have right now is a name, Silvanus,” He paused, making sure that the name carried the appropriate weight. “I wish we had more, but the planet and the name were all we could get. Inquisitor Skane is busy elsewhere, so I doubt you'll get the pleasure of seeing her anytime soon, but you do have me,” He gave a knowing smirk.

“Officially, you are here as my personal bodyguard,” He chuckled, shaking his head at the absurdity of the statement. “I'm going to keep that going for as long as it is convenient. However, since I'm going to be spending most of my time doing things you don't need to know about, you all are going to be dismissed. You are all to forget about Inquisitor Skane, and the Inquisition in general. You do have proper papers drawn up, but I expect you to not use them unless you absolutely have to. Apart from that, I don't have any real instructions for you. This is a test of your abilities, after all. If you need to contact me, well, don’t. I’ll contact you if there is any need.

“We'll be landing at Port Unforgiving in Hive Callous soon. Get your things together, chit-chat, just be ready to move and look sharp when we arrive. I'm sure you've got lots of questions, and so here begins one of the many lessons you will learn if you want to survive working for the Inquisition. Some questions are best left unasked, and you should put them from your head. Practice with the ones you have for me. Dismissed!”

Captain Greis turned and walked to the ship’s captain, discussing something in a low tone, out of earshot of the Acolytes. The servitors beckoned the group to follow them, seemingly eager to remove themselves from the presence of Captain Greis.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2008-02-12 10:35pm

Varnius followed in the servitor's wake, his dark robes swirling around his feet. The speech was much like he had heard before, with only the ranks changed. Serve or suffer. Success is worth more than your pain or your life. Obey. Win. It never changed whether it was from a shift boss or a Imperial Guard captain it was always the same. Only the nature of the service he could provide his superiors before he was used up and dead changed.

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-02-12 10:53pm

The captain's speech did little to calm Lazarus's mind. He had been thinking of all sorts of unpleasant possibilities on the long trip alone.

At least this outfit doesn't look like a suicide squad. But typically what the hell we'll actually be doing is too much to tell the grunts

He'd had hoped to be able to get some answers as to what in the warp was going on, but his two years in the gaurd had taught him not to speak or suggest anything out of turn. He followed the servitors to gear up, while wondering just why the hell he was here.

Another day in the service of the Imperium

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2008-02-12 10:54pm

Yelizaveta ran a hand nervously through her hair. The hairless man walking beside her didn't feel right. Hell, nothing felt right-and why should it? She had been summoned from the life she knew, by an organization whose very name was the stuff of furtive whispers. But something felt right after all. The Inquisition. She served the Inquisition, and that meant she was one step away from the direct service of the Emperor himself.

Her heart rate rose, and it wasn't entirely because of nerves.

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2008-02-12 11:06pm

Serghar stared at the captain for a long moment before turning away to let the servitors walk him down the halls again. Gries was a hard man, not that such men were uncommon in the service of the Emperor. Indeed they seemed to be the rule. There were hard men in the Guard, hard men in the Adeptes Arbites, hard men in the Eclisiarchy, hells he'd met Adepts who he wouldn't want to cross. It remained to be seen if it was a facade or not, but he'd bet his last two Thrones that Gries would do exactly as he had threatened, facade or not. So he'd have to work with psykers-he'd just keep his distance so they wouldn't kill him when they went crazy.

And they were in the Druscus Marches somewhere. That was all he could recall about Archaos at the moment. He never had been very good at astrography or whatever you called it. He would swear to the Emperor on Earth that his head still hurt from coming off his two-year bender weeks ago. At least he thought it had been two years. Damnit, it shouldn't be this hard to remember when he had started drinking. He really wished he had brought something besides Lho-sticks as he was by now down to his last three smokes and the last two gelt that he had left from his last stipend that hadn't been drunk.

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-02-12 11:06pm

Stretching lazily, Verum watches the strange looking man follow the servitor and decides that now isn't the time to ask a lot of questions. Adjusting his scabbard and glancing at his companions, he moves to follow the servitor as well. "Hope this pays well," he says as he moves after the servitor.

He takes no more than two steps towards the door and realizes that there was one thing he did need to ask. "Captain," Verum says, " Are we authorized to use any means necessary to find and eliminate this threat? Or would you prefer that we be... discrete in our inquiries? And is there any information on local contacts we can gather intel from?"

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-02-12 11:26pm

As Lazarus strapped on his armor and equipment, his mind worked furiously, to little effect. What was this team to acomplish? Were they all supposed to kill this Silvanus character, capture him, or something else?

The captain said not to ask him any questions. Might as well ask the rest of this lot.

"Does anyone have any idea what the fuck this mission is all about?"

Maybe somebody was briefed.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-02-12 11:28pm

Captain Greis let out a slow sigh as he turned from the ship's captain. "There's always one. Go ask your new team. I'm testing your abilities, part of which includes your ability to make decisions," He looked at Verum and then to the door.

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2008-02-12 11:38pm

Serghar looked at Lazarus out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe you had better apologize for that outburst. And not ask so many questions, this is the Inquisition, or so we are supposed to forget." Then he was gone from the room, out into the halls and off to pick up the few things he had left in his room.

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-02-12 11:39pm

"As ordered, sir!" Verum replied, a slight smirk on his face. He moved to join the gathering group, eyeing the barely clothed woman and the bald man with curiosity.

"Verum," he said, "Verum Romuwald of Hredrin Primary. Anyone know anything about this Silvanus character? Where to find him? If he's a xeno lover? A heretic? A mutant? Did he just hump the Lord Governor's wife? And does anyone know where I can find a decent bottle of Amasec onboard? I seem to have run out."

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-02-12 11:43pm

Saluting as he leaves, Quintos follows the servitor, obviously seeing that the Captain had other business to do. One learned quite quickly that when the officers wanted you gone, you got gone.

Listening to the conversation between Lazarus and Serghar, Quintos just shakes his head and says, "Gentlemen, ours is not to reason why, it is but to do or die. We serve the Emperor, that is all I need to know. That we are hunting heretics is merely a bonus."

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-02-12 11:46pm

Well this Verum character certainly wasn't briefed. Apparantly the situation is for the captain to know and for us to find out. Or not.

To Quintos he said,
"Yeah, but do what? This is the vaguest op I've ever been on."

Not that I've been on too many ops...

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-02-12 11:46pm

"That's all well and good in the Guard my good man, but I think the Ordo we're not supposed to mention is interested in us for a bit more than that, wouldn't you agree? One might not need to think in the Army but one of the words in Inquisition is Inquire is it not? By the way, my name is Verum. What might yours be?" Verum said, holding out a hand to the guardsman.

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2008-02-12 11:57pm

Yelizaveta buckled on her sword, ignoring the conversation in the hallway outside. She felt a little more at ease with its battered hilt in easy reach. As she was reaching for her guns and jacket, one of the guardsmen spoke up.

Raj Ahten wrote:"Does anyone have any idea what the fuck this mission is all about?"

She shook her head and shrugged. "They must know more than they're telling."

She shrugged into the jacket, checking its pockets by habit and thinking hard.

"It's supposed to be a test. It's supposed to be hard. But they don't even trust us enough to tell us why they suspect corruption. So either they don't think it's important or they aren't actually depending on us, is my guess."

Aye, everything was where it was supposed to be, down to the slim laspistol concealed in one of the larger pockets. She was sure that her gear had been searched thoroughly, but whoever had done it hadn't left a trace.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-02-13 12:01am

Taking Verum's hand and shaking it, Quintos says, "Quintos Havelock my good man."

Addressing both of them, Quintos says, "There are many things we can do to serve. I am from the Guard, so my duty is to kill or be killed, prefferably the former in a much higher ratio than the other." Glancing over at Verum, he then says, "While I would hazard to guess that you my good friend are more skilled at the whole inquiry business. In fact, I am sure that were we not hired by an Inquisitor, who I of course know nothing about, you and I would not be getting along so well. Of course, since heretics have a habit of hiding in the darkness, I am not adverse to a guide who knows the shadows a little." Quintos smiles broadly at the implications of that.

Quintos then looks over his shoulder and says, "Now if you would excuse me for a moment, I must gather my equipment as I see that everyone else appears to be preparing for this mission."

Nodding, he goes into his room to gather his weaponry, his armour already on like a second skin, its battered hide something he was always loathe to part with.

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-02-13 12:02am

"Oh I know those motions," Verum thought to himself, "and the Captain did say 'killers' meaning more than one," wondering if there were any more like him in the bunch.

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-02-13 12:20am

After thinking things over for a moment Lazarus said,

"Well this mission may very well be complete bullshit, so let's not go off killing people. If the captain wants this fellow Silvanus dead, he'd tell us."

He damn well better. I got a feeling the Captain wants to see how this group operates on instinct. I don't plan on killing anyone unless I have to. Seeing that no one has any bars on their shoulder's , hell if I know how decisions are going to be made. Fuck it.

"Before we start acting like a murder squad let's try and at least find out what this Silvanus is up to. Thats what the Captain seems to want."

If this becomes regular I hope we get instructions that are clearer than this crap.

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2008-02-13 12:23am

"Wonder how many 'Silvanus' there are in this hive," Yelizaveta said. "Wouldn't it turn out a lark if Silvanus was a place, eh?"

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-02-13 12:27am

"And who mentioned anything about killing or murder? I simply asked if anyone had any information on who he was and what he may or may not have done. I'm certain if he's innocent of the charges against him we will find information to that effect and can tell the Captain. Also understand that if someone dies by the Will of the Emperor it is most certainly not murder, more like... cleansing of filth," Verum replied with a smile. "Who might you be, our associate of strong consience?"

"Ah, a good point fair lady. Perhaps a ship, or a nickname for a hab block. Maybe even a bar? I think I would rather enjoy that, been rather stuffy on this ship, I could buy you a drink Miss...?"

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-02-13 12:28am

Feil wrote:"Wonder how many 'Silvanus' there are in this hive," Yelizaveta said. "Wouldn't it turn out a lark if Silvanus was a place, eh?"

I fucking hope not.

For about the thousanth time Lazarus wondered what the hell he was doing here, and why he had been picked.

"Well, that name is all we got. You have any experience in this sort of thing?"

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-02-13 12:28am

Returning with his weapons slung over his back and at his side, Quintos does a final inspection on his knife before returning it to his boot sheath. Smiling at Lazarus' statement, he says, "Oh, I'm not saying that once we touch down on Archaos we should just start killing people, I'm simply saying that as far as tools for the Inquisition go, you and I are quite clearly in the 'hammer' category. We are Guardsmen, we smash things. That said, there are quite clearly other members of our group whose talents are significantly more subtle than open combat. Different tools for different tasks. Our fellows root out the heresy, we smash it. Until we have a target, I am quite happy to 'hurry up and wait', as the idiom goes."

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-02-13 12:36am

Block wrote:"And who mentioned anything about killing or murder? I simply asked if anyone had any information on who he was and what he may or may not have done. I'm certain if he's innocent of the charges against him we will find information to that effect and can tell the Captain. Also understand that if someone dies by the Will of the Emperor it is most certainly not murder, more like... cleansing of filth," Verum replied with a smile. "Who might you be, our associate of strong consience?"

Turning to Verum, Lazrus said,
"I'm Lazarus. Look all I want to do is make sure we all got the same idea about what we are doing here. If the Emporer demands it, I'll cleanse all he wants."

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2008-02-13 12:38am

As the others checked their respective rooms, Camillia stood off to the side, evaluating each of the other members of their little team. This was the first time she had actually seen any of them physically, instead of the faint psychic echoes that they left in their wake.

Three guardsmen, fairly obviously. They'll be solid, dependable in a fight. So will that Arbite. Actually, most everyone here looks like they've been in combat before, except for the clerk and the techpriest

Camillia was fairly excited at the confirmation that she was now a part of the Inquisition. From what little she had heard, those in the Inquisition had actual use of a psyker like her, one that didn't involve being drained of one's soul or burning out from overwork.

Walking barefoot, as she had left her heavy boots in her room, Camillia avoided the hairless man that emanated quite like she did, and wandered over to the conversation that was taking place. They were talking about the "Silvanius," a name, the only clue they were given so far. She very much doubted that the name was all that the Captain and his Inquisitor friend could get, but it was as much as they were given, so she had to work with it.

Responding to Lazarus's comment, Camillia said "Isn't that the thing though? We don't know what we're supposed to be doing here."

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-02-13 12:39am

Raj Ahten wrote: Turning to Verum, Lazrus said,
"I'm Lazarus. Look all I want to do is make sure we all got the same idea about what we are doing here."

"Do any of us really have any idea what we're doing here?"

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2008-02-13 12:41am

Block wrote:"Ah, a good point fair lady. Perhaps a ship, or a nickname for a hab block. Maybe even a bar? I think I would rather enjoy that, been rather stuffy on this ship, I could buy you a drink Miss...?"

She choked back a laugh at 'fair lady'. "Yelizaveta Svalte," she said, ignoring the rest and turning back to Lazarus.

"I guess I do, a little. I've found people who didn't want to be found before. Just never anything like this."