[@Andreyich][@jbeil][@BCTheEntity][@Kratesis]


It may have appeared as if Kliment was too busy staring at the corpse of the until-then Governor, indeed his eyes had not moved since they returned from watching the (possibly) loyal Guardsmen rounded up and herded as (possible) heretics into the back of the transport – along with them went at least a squad of Sisters, made into prison guards for the moment, those that would take these castaways into the atmosphere and find out by life or death whether they knew anything of this ploy – but in truth he noticed and heard everything.

Horacio's pleas had come to nought once the Inquisitors escort had moved into action, the majority of the Guard personnel – probably as loyal as loyal could be – dropping their weapons as soon as they realised what had happened and was now happening in return. Of course, there would be a potentially guiltless Corporal who may never return to active service, and two that would not even have that chance; had Sister Alexa not moved with the forcefulness and purpose that she did, well, Lisbeth may have been among the prisoners instead of his personal protectors...or worse.

Only the four of them, Kliment himself, and a half-dozen other Sisters (Celestian Victorine having accompanied the guard detail back to the Inquisitorial vessel in orbit) now remained standing on the platform alone after the lander had taken off in a rush of displaced air and engine thrusters.

“Sisters...” the Inquisitor spoke up, gesturing for them to form a semi-circle before him, “and Confessor,” he added to acknowledge Horacio and his position there, “'Immortality through Faith' is what the heretic said before disposing of himself, and they are words that I have heard before.” At his side his fingers twitched, the pain that had been expelled from his body by adrenaline now beginning to seep into him as he spoke, “it is not something of which I can speak now, not without further proof, but I will tell you this; there [b]is[/b] corruption on this planet, the same corruption that has been found on multiple planets throughout the sector.”

His bionic eye, as red as his other eye, whirred in and out of focus as he took in each of them.

“What we must decide now is how to proceed, and I turn to you all for your counsel – I am not one to simply declare Exterminatus, and I do believe that the caner which infests this planet can be removed if correct measures are taken. So, I ask, what to do? The Governor is clearly not present here, but may still be alive and a captive or hostage. The PDF has been infiltrated at least, and if word gets out here of the 'Governors' demise there could be revolution. I have no doubt that the lower hive is where we would find the hub of the refuse and cesspool of heretical activity on Athega Tertius, but simply entering it and hoping for the best is something that may also provoke a larger reaction than I would like.”

There was clearly no doubt that Kliment was telling them less than he knew, as he would see it for their own safety and preservation, but he also knew that he could not (and would not) keep it from them forever. No, they would need to know at some point, but for now they were more useful being focused on a task that would benefit both himself and the planet at large.

“I am still not sure if my assumptions are correct,” he admitted in a show of frank honesty to them all, “but we cannot remain here, too much has happened and when their proxy Governor does not return then suspicion will begin to take hold. Thoughts?”