40K Dark Heresy: The Danse Macabre

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2008-07-17 08:16pm

Nixios stood silently, giving no indication he had heard a thing. Verum had certainly given him no easy task, as the usual channels of communication had been severed by the deceased arbite and the gangers were still quite suspicious of the acolytes.

"I'll see what I can do."

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2008-07-17 09:30pm

Havelock looked at Grim as the others began talking, and then asked a question one might expect of a priest.

"Tell me Grim.. I won't ask you if you're a good citizen, the underhive doesn't much allow for that usually. But tell me.. do you back He who sits on The Golden Throne?"

One could almost hear the capital letters in the priest's words.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-19 03:46pm

Grim looked at Verum and Havelock carefully. "You want to destroy this? Let me guess, you want my help for that, and I'm supposed to trust you? You who just happened to walk into my territory, who just happened to find evidence of this and bring it before me?" His eyes narrowed. "I do not believe in coincidences, preacher, and right now there are too many for the purpose of maintaining my calm. I think we should start by putting your cards on the table. You are not simply some redemptionist come from the upper hive to burn those who do not give platitudes to the God Emperor. Such folk do not travel from world to world so easily. Who are you?"

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-07-19 08:59pm

"We are agents of the Arbites. I'm a mercenary in their employ to be more specific. The others are undercover other than the tech-priest, who is on loan. We were told that a heretic of some import may be hiding on planet, and so we were sent to search for him and if possible, snuff him out. And yes, friend Grim, we want your help.
I won't go as far as to insist upon it, however, my friend, you may want to think about how heresy tends to spread, and whether or not you want the Warp as your next door neighbor," Verum answered with an easy grin.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-21 01:50am

Grim stiffened visibly at Verum's words, and his eyes narrowed with rage. "You're right. I don't want heretics as neighbors." He pressed a button and glared at the acolytes. "So, tell me, what did the Arbites tell you?"

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-07-21 09:09am

"Very little, as seems to be the norm. Basically friend Grim, we were told that there's one somewhere on planet, and we were given a name. We have done some research on the name, and it led us to two places, down here, and somewhere across the planet. We chose to check down here first, which seems like it may have been a good choice yes? And you can relax Grim, we're not here for you, we care nothing of the activites of gangers or anything other than the heretic we're after. He is far more of a threat."

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-21 10:29am

"I see. What is the name of this Heretic you are hunting?" Grim's voice was steady, but still laced with anger.

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-07-21 10:35am

"I believe it was Sylvanius, though you'd have to check with the tech-priest on that, I have a horrible memory for such unimportant details. If it looks evil, kill it was the main idea. Don't suppose you might know something about a fellow or a company or perhaps a sector with that name would you?" Scar replied, shifting slightly to put his hands in position to quickly reach his weapons, but doing so without being obvious about it.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-21 10:49am

"Oh, I do. You won't leave here alive with that information though," The doors opened and two gangers with heavy stubbers leveled their guns at the acolytes. "There's no way I'm letting some damned assassins anywhere near Silvanus, especially not a bunch of corrupted fools who can only see as far as their next payoff!"

Block · Post by **Block** » 2008-07-21 11:01am

"Corrupted friend Grim?" Verum replied launching himself at the nearest man holding a stubber and bringing his sword across and up in a slashing cross body cut, "Why we are the very agents of purity ourselves, you may as well know who you face, since you will be dying shortly. You face the Inquisition, fool, and you will pay for your treatment of us, and the insults you have heaped upon us."

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2008-07-21 01:29pm

Nixios was unimpressed. He had been expecting the interruption once Grim had pushed the button and was particularly displeased with Verum's diplomacy. He'd wondered why it seemed the assassin did most of the talking.

Too late to worry about that anymore.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-21 07:12pm

Grim's office became a maelstrom of fighting. As Verum was about to draw his blade, Quintos raised his lasgun and fired at his erstwhile ally in a panicked attempt to keep the heavy stubbers from firing. Verum easily dodged, but was then caught off guard as Grim, who also narrowly avoided Quintos's wild shot, opened fire with his autopistol. Verum's right arm took two rounds, shattering every bone in his hand. Nixios let loose a cacophony of machine noise which stunned most in the room, including the two gangers with heavy stubbers that had, until now, held their fire.

Verum attacked Grim, slicing the man's ear clean off and leaving a brutal scar along Grim's jaw. While Grim and Verum dueled, the rest of the Acolytes fought off two gangers with the heavy stubbers. Camilia called upon the powers of the warp to throw one gunner to the ground, while Quintos melted the head off of the other.

In their bitter duel, Grim just barely avoided Verum's haggard blows and returned with a shot to the chest which brought the assassin to the down. Hitting another button on his desk, he howled at the top of his lungs, "You will all die here! FOR THE EMPEROR!"

The exaltation gave Havelock pause, and he turned to Grim, aiming his own weapon as he did so. "Wait! The man you felled, he panicked and spoke falsehoods before I could correct him!"

"I was not the first to fire, Priest, put down your guns, and I will give you one last chance to explain before I let your blood mingle with the sump."

Havelock nodded somberly and motioned for the rest of the Acolytes to lower their weapons, which they did. Once the shooting had stopped, he presented his Inquisitorial Seal to Grim and explained the truth.

Grim glared at the seal and gave the order for his men to stand down. As one of his own tended to his wounds, he sat back down and opened one of the drawers from his desk, removing a small box. "I must admit, I was hoping the Inquisition would send someone soon, I was beginning to lose hope. That you lot are the ones they would send, however, does little to restore that. My proper name is Garvel Ignace Mallear, I was a precinct commander in the Magisterium, before the purge," He opened the box to reveal his official papers and badge. "My men and I fled here to avoid being slaughtered. We've been trying to fight the corruption ever since, but mostly what we do is try to keep the people safe in the name of the Emperor, just as we did before." He looked up at the acolytes with a steeled gaze. "Now that you're here, tell me, what do you intend to do?"

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2008-07-21 07:57pm

Camillia finally became fully aware of what had just happened when the shooting stopped and her battle-reflexes released their hold on her mind. She holstered her laspistol slowly, and watched in silence as Verum's body was rushed out of the office.

After Grim revealed himself as a former Magisterium officer, Camillia thought she could piece together the past few minutes. Verum's claim to be employed by the Arbites struck a nerve with the former officer, who could possibly harbor doubts about the Arbites' motives. After that, it didn't take much prodding to force his hand, and it seemed that whoever "Silvanus" was, he was definitely important to Grim.

There was silence after Grim asked his question, as if everyone was thinking of the proper response to it. Camillia decided to cut all of the negotiation-style talking, and said simply "We report what we have learned, and wait for instructions."

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2008-07-21 08:21pm

Cyrine had finished the tasks of extended care and was idly mending the tear in her pants from where splinters from the cover she was using had grazed her leg when the gunfire started. She ran frantically to cover, tugging her autopistol from its holster. By the time she was crouched behind a solid looking patch of rubble, the shooting had stopped. She activated her vox unit, daring a glance from cover but seeing no gunmen.

"What is happening? Over."

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-07-21 10:29pm

Lazarus had come out of his sleep ready to shoot anything that moved. He had immediately looked out the windows. There were men setting up heavy stubbers outside. That wasn't good at all. There was also a firefight across the compound. Sounded like it was coming from near Grim's office.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. A double cross. They would have to fight their way clear quick before all the escape routes were cut off. Just as Lazarus was preparing to lead an extremely hazardous breakout attempt from the sleeping quarters, he finally got a bizarre reply from the team with Grim: everything was fine and Grim was a Magisterum officer and he knew Silvanus somehow. There had been casualties, but Grim's people were standing down.

Lazarus could see the men surrounding the compound relax and put up their weapons.

What in the name of the Emperor is going on here? Grim an Imperial agent? Impossible! That scum couldn't be! Is it a Chaos plot? I have to find out what is going on myself.

Over the comms he said,
"I'm coming over."

Mustering whoever wanted to come over from the shack, Lazarus, autogun at the ready to engage anyone who so much as looked at him funny, warily made his way to Grim's office.

Noting two dead bodies outside and Verum going out in a stretcher, Lazarus asked,

"Just what in the name of The Emperor is going on over here?"
Pointing a finger at Grim, the other hand firmly grasping his autogun Lazarus snarled,
"You have a lot of fucking explaining to do Grim and I ain't in the mood to hear a lot of bullshit. They all say you are an Imperial officer. If that's the case what the hell are you doing down here acting the great gang chief? How the fuck do you know Silvanus? Talk."
[/i]

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2008-07-21 10:55pm

Varnius awoke to the sound of gunfire. The psyker rolled and grabbed his autopistol, covering the door. Nothing came through. The sound of shooting abruptly stopped. He quickly gathered his weapons and cautiously took stock of the situation.

The fighting seemed to be over now, although tensions remained high. What in the Emperor's Name had the blunts done now? Obviously their rapport with the gang wasn't what they had claimed it to be. Varnius mentally kicked himself for taking their word on the situation.

Still, he had to recover the map if it was lost and salvage what he could from the situation. He proceeded with caution.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-21 11:10pm

Grim nodded at Camillia. "Very well then, how do you plan on reporting?"

He waited for a reply, but before one came, Lazarus burst into the office, shouting his demands. "Sorry, I can't hear you that well through the ear your mate decided to cut off. Why don't you sit down and watch your mouth? First off, I was Magisterium. I made sure citizens followed the laws of the Planetary Governor in addition to the Emperor's Laws. My men and I saw the purge coming and avoided the Adeptus Arbites as best we could. Despite being forced from our official positions, we could not avoid our duty to the people of Hive Callous. Our fear got the better of us there, as should we have died, then our duty would be unfinished. As for Silvanus, he's how we first knew something was wrong. Right now, he's the only reason that the corruption hasn't spread any further than it has."

He let loose a deep sigh, turning back to the other gathered Acolytes. "Now then, let's get back to your superior. I will help you contact them, but on one condition, I want to talk with them myself."

Raj Ahten · Post by **Raj Ahten** » 2008-07-21 11:26pm

This bastard was supposed to purged, but Silvanus then saves his ass. Gets himself a tame copper of his own maybe? Was the purge justified? Fuck if I know. Captain Greis aught to be thinking on this shit, that’s what he's paid for. Bastard. He's sitting around in the officer's club most likely.

Speaking to Grim Lazarus said,
"For one I don't appreciate it when you have your mates surround me with heavy stubbers while I sleep. So you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little fucking tense. So just why is it that Silvanus is the only reason the corruption hasn't spread any further? That corruption the same as that down in the pit we saw yesterday?"

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-21 11:57pm

"Far as I knew, you lot were a bunch of scum assassins sent by the Arbites, thanks to your mate Verum. Forgive me for not simply shooting you all outright, mercy is for the weak, I suppose. As for the corruption, yes, like what you saw in the Balimek base. You think this gang war is by chance? Scum like the Balimeks have been rising up and trying to tear the Hive down from the bottom. We've done what we could to stop them here, before they could run rampant in the Upper Hive. Silvanus has been at the core of that."

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-07-22 02:59pm

Quintos had been quiet since the fight had ended, a deep melancholy settling over him once the adrenaline wore off and he realized that he should not have shot at Verum in such a tense situation. But that was a problem for later. For now though...

"Can you offer us some proof of the corruption amongst the Arbites?" He asked. "Something that would give more weight to your words and convince us that you are not assassins with the intent of killing our commander to cripple the activities of the Imperium on this world?"

Feil · Post by **Feil** » 2008-07-22 03:50pm

After several seconds passed with no reply, Cyrine said again,

"What is happening, over?!"

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2008-07-22 05:33pm

"I don't care about even seeing your boss, I just want to talk to them directly. Getting orders directly from an Inquisitor would help the morale of not just my men, but all that we work with." He sighed heavily. "As for proof, I think you'll find that the evidence lockers of the Magisterium were burned quite thoroughly. I don't even know if the corruption has spread to the Arbites directly, or if it is something peripheral to them, which they are blind to."

"Regardless, they see us as corrupted and will refuse to even talk, as is their way. Since our work is unfinished, we continue. Down here we haven't been able to do much in the way of fact-finding. I have mouths to feed and people to protect, and not all of my group here are my men. Boys have joined us, children barely yet able to shave. Emperor Bless them, but I would rather not see them throw their lives away where we should shield them."

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2008-07-22 05:56pm

Varnius approached the room where his comrades were talking with Grim. "Everything alright?" he asked.

Hawkwings · Post by **Hawkwings** » 2008-07-23 12:30am

"We don't really know the inquisitor we're working for," Camillia explained. "All we have is a name, and orders from a middleman. We probably couldn't put you in contact with the inquisitor if we tried."

Noticing that the rest of their group was coming around and asking questions, Camillia said to Grim, "It would help all of us and do much to prevent more shooting here if you explained your position from the beginning, including the purge, Sylvanius, and the work that you're continuing down here."

Vehrec · Post by **Vehrec** » 2008-07-23 01:56pm

Feil wrote:After several seconds passed with no reply, Cyrine said again,

"What is happening, over?!"

Serghar slung his shotgun over his shoulder and grabbed Cyrine with his left hand. "They must not be able to hear you, let's go to them instead." Stepping outside he shot a few hard glares at the gangers, but kept his attention on quickly escorting the woman to Grimm's office, ariving behind Varnius. The blood and the direction of the conversation was strange to him and he paused to look around. "Emperor on Earth, what happened here? If this is someone's idea of a joke, I don't appreciate the humor."