Our blades met in a flash of sparks, and a bead of blood trickled down my neck from a move I had not even comprehended. This seemed wholly unreal, but I knew better than that. Perhaps with the right augmentations and two hundred years more experience, I might have been able to defeat this xenos scum, no question. But as it was, he was tens of millions of years more evolved in such things than I. It was a small relief to my pride when I sidestepped and swung at the Dark Eldar in a way it didn't expect, and instead of taking off a finger it was forced to retreat for the length of an eye blink. I knew it would come in again and repay me for the slight a hundred fold, but at that moment, Emmaline Von Morganstern saved my life and the Segmentum Tempestus. I did not know it was her doing at first, but after the spray of arterial blood and the crowd acting in a way I did not expect even chaos cultists to perform, I knew it was her. I smiled, glad she had made it out ok, and had the moral fiber to come back. If I had any doubts of my judgement regarding her and my romantic feelings earlier, they had been expunged now. As it was, I backstepped, letting the Dark Eldar perform what it needed to in order to survive on the hapless servants of Ignatius. Instead, I ran to the steel bars that held my compatriots. I knew I would ruin the sword, but without the proper tools I couldn't pick the locks, and rent the old iron locks with my sword, breaking the blade in the process. Men ran to intercept us and get control of the crowd. Ignatius Militia with lasguns jogged in fine order across the stadium's seats, pushing aside fighting aristocrats as six of them ran to what I guessed was the southern edge of the arena, five meters above us but at the lowest section of the seats, and as one they aimed at the three of us. I felt my life leave my body, it seemed, but I imagined it of course. Instead of my own death, I heard the whine of something familiar. I never thought I would be happy to see Lazarus utilizing his favorite armament, but in a brief flash of brilliance, the firing squad was obliterated to a man, and around a dozen frenzied men and women beside them were killed by the Transuranic Arquebus. I looked over to the source of the blast and saw my oldest friend clad rise from the bustle of bodies. Tossing aside his red cloak, he threw two spare autoguns to me. I caught them both, giving Urien one. Bolskar deigned to pick up a fallen lasgun from the dead milita, and together we climbed atop the cages and pulled ourselves up above the lip of the railing. "Quite the party, Inquisitor." Lazarus said, clasping my hand in greeting. "Laz, you and Urien need to go down that hall-" I pointed at the corridor we entered the arena from. "And you need to shut down the reactor. Emperor save me, if you argue to retain the tech for any reason I'll-" "Ok! Yes, we'll destroy it." Lazarus remarked, bewildered. "You might want to thank me, at least..." "If you cannot shut it down manually, use your rifle. But it cannot be allowed to go off. Kill anyone in your way. Now, both of you! Go!" The two teams split up, Bolskar and I wading into the chaotic mess of bodies, biting and kicking and punching. Many of them like as not were not under the influence Emmaline had cast, and were now too engorged on their own self preservation to stop. Up the right stairwell I saw a militiaman spot us, and he fired a shot at me that scorched into the back of a woman, dropping her. I returned fire, my second slug punching into his sternum. Bolskar shot another from afar, but was grabbed from behind by a man who had lost his gun in the panic. Young and untested, Bolskar was still a feral-worlder. He shouldered the man back, hitting his jaw with his elbow and began to beat him to death with the lasgun. I was lucky I took the moment to watch him. At the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar figure in garments I couldn't mistake. "Ignatius!" I roared across the din. The patriarch of the house stopped at the doorway of one of the snake-like corridors and gave me a look of pure contempt, before disappearing into it like the villain he was. I ran after him, calling over my shoulder to Bolskar. "Find Emmaline and protect her!" After traversing the maelstrom, producing two more dead militiamen and a third with a broken nose from the butt of my gun, and I stumbled into the corridor. Lights flickered with the predictability of the warp, casting shadows and illumination in random tandem. As I ran, my feet hit water. Puddles formed and the ground began to shudder, almost imperceptibly. I could only guess it was from Lazarus's efforts with the xenos tech. I hit the wall and pushed off to rush down the turn of the tunnel, catching a glimpse of Ignatius' cloak. I fired a shot, sparks exploding from the rockcrete. Cursing at the near-miss, I continued at full speed. Julius had long legs and the wild energy of a cultist, but I was honed to the potential of my human form. I gained on him, every corner and tunnel he grew closer and closer. It must have been over a kilometer, and as I leaped down a stone stairway in a short passage, I entered the neck of another tunnel and my vision was filled by the swinging fist of Julius Mercutio Ignatius. My gun clattered to the ground as I staggered, the dim lighting giving my attacker a ghastly appearance. His next swing struck me in the stomach, my inability to block him due to the billowing cloak covering the small vestige of light we had. But as I stepped back, cold fury took hold of me. He grabbed my shirt and launched another blow. I redirected it with a raised fist and kicked his shin with considerable force. He cried out, taking a knee involuntarily. My fist swung up from below to meet his chin. Blood splattered from his lips, and I imagined he bit his tongue. His grip slackening, I grabbed a head-full of his salt and pepper hair and slammed it against the wall with all of my appreciable strength. That was that. He fell like a corpse, but his mumbling showed me he was still very much alive. Calmly, I walked over to pick up my gun before firing into both of his knees to ensure he would not slip out of my fingers again. [hr] [h2][center]Act 3[/center][/h2] [i]989M41 Planet Moldar To Inquistor Lord Moredecai[/i] Over the course of the next few days, there was a blur of activity I can only scant recall in great detail. The planet's vox channels were filled with news from the capital, papers scattered in the streets with Lord Ignatius' pulped face and the disgrace of the Ignatius family in bold letters. Lazarus and Urien had been successful in their endeavor to destroy the reactor, detonating it by redirecting the power flows to overflow with energy. Bolskar and Emmaline had met me and the ravaged Julius at the arena, and by the time I had made it, PDF forces had arrived at the manor. What militia left were either busy fighting for their lives or had given up this farce. The pomp had brought in two Inquisitors that had been in the regional systems, coming to collect information on who I was and what exactly I had stumbled upon. I spoke with them briefly, but invited them to the council session the end of the week. Needless to say I was met with cries of both joy and outrage as I strode in with all my livery and my entire team with me. They quietened down when I revealed the decapitated head of a dark eldar for them to gaze upon, as well as the eldritch key Bahometus had yet to retrieve. A few of the regional lords had asked to be granted full reports and to halt my investigations to pay damages. "My patience has limits, my lords. Unlike my authority." I told them in no uncertain terms. They were smart to answer with silence. I was pleased to see more than a few had taken to my cause once I explained the situation, mostly those who did not have direct business ties to the Ignatius family nor had to pay for any of the city's damages. To my delight, Lord Haldemir seemed my most avid supporter in the hearings, and was the first to offer his household troops in my plot to capture Bahometus. The cur had escaped via eldritch means through a corrupted xenos gateway. Through my research and Lazarus' decryptions, we found the destination... Danubis. Less than a week after I had taken in Julius Ignatius, the Caledonian, two corvettes, and a frigate had been requisitioned and dispatched to arrive at Danubis in three days time. At the head of the fleet, I finally felt I was coming to the conclusion of the cabal that had taken my master's life... [hr] [i]First day of the trip[/i]. I closed my dossier, dropping the pen and exhaling broadly. My mind had been thrown into disarray now that I could do naught but wait on the ship as it traversed the warp. It had all gone according to plan, but I still felt like there was a loose end, and it had nothing to do with Bahometus. Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I closed my folder and took a quick drink of amasec. I did not often drink when working, but today was an exception. As I took my time sipping, there was a knock on the door. "Come," I said, placing the glass down. Emmaline walked in, and I froze when I saw she wore the black dress that first night on Moldar. I blinked, wondering what she was planning. Opening my mouth, I tried to speak, but she placed a finger to her full lips and strode over. She walked tantalizingly, and while I was vaguely aware of the purpose in her eyes, to my surprise she didn't walk around my desk, but climbed over it. I grew hot, seeing just how enticing she was on all fours, and without self preservation she fell atop me, grabbing and pinching and kissing. We fell over, the chair hitting the floor as we entangled on the grou- There was a knock at the door, and I blinked. What? My senses returned to me, slowly. "A dream?" I asked aloud, and groaned in annoyance. Just what I needed. I didn't answer immediately, trying to throw the images out of my head. There was another small knock. "Come...in." I finished, clearing my throat.