[i]990M41 
Planet Gravemire 
To Inquistor Lord Moredecai[/i]

Hiveworlds. 

The putrid and rotten husk of a comatose planet, riddled with sharp, dilapidated growths the shape of inverted icicles that pierced the clouds as if trying to escape the very world they crushed under their weight. Two hundred million souls of the emperor's children lived, worked, fucked, and died in each and every city. The manufacture of steel and silica within each city's industrial sectors kept the economic blood flowing, but it produced the same, most precious resource of every hive world: it's people. Brave men and women sent to fight and die on the front lines at every corner of known space, and 73% of them came from worlds such as these. 

Gravemire was much like others of its kind. From my vantage point on the deck, I could see the great mountains of rockcrete and steel spiraling into the sky. Their size nagged at me, as if something so large couldn't be real. Each was accented by turrets and parapets and eroded by wind and time. On the monitor, the Caledonia prompted the planet's readings. The planet was mostly comprised of endless wastes of swamps of sulphur and liquid ammonia surfaced after its crust had eroded away from the toxic chemicals vomited out of the hives. The inhospitable landscape and the large, mutant beasts that had adapted to its environment made ground travel virtually impossible on the planet surface. The world looked a sickly ball of blue marred by dark pox-marks that offended the eye. I didn't like hives. I found them hot, asphyxiating, and confining. The fact the last hive I had entered had led to Kronus's death did not help matters, either. 

I would make sure something of that nature did not happen again. 

"We're being hailed on the Vox Caster. Hive Orcus has granted permission to dock." The sub-light navigator told Urien. He looked to me for confirmation, and then got his man to work. It was good to be back on the Caledonia, as guilty as I always felt administering it for my missions. Urien and anyone else would tell me I only do so for the good of the imperium, and the fact that they are right does not make it any easier. 

"Am I going with you this time?" Urien asked in his brutal accent. I regarded him, and dismissed the notion after a thought. 

"No, we'll be fine." 

"If you won't take me, grab a few of my boys. They'll do well in a pinch." He leaned in and whispered. "They get restless on the ship sometimes. It would be good to let a few out to breathe some fresh air." 

I almost snorted at the notion of a hive being fresh air, but I nodded my acquiescence. I knew they would follow my orders as if they came from Urien's mouth, and they were well known for their close combat capabilities. I told Urien to give me his four best and meet us at the hanger. My team was already assembled and awaiting me near the newly modified shuttle, courtesy of Lazarus (as well as a bit of my own handiwork). 

Emmaline, Clara, Selencia, and Laxarus awaited me at the shuttle bay, their gear and clothes already packed. Lucius was in the altar room, ordered to keep calm and practice breathing exercises prescribed by Selencia at Emmaline's insistence. I deemed him too conspicuous to follow us into the hive, but to be ready for any time we would need his assistance. I hoped not to employ Urien and Lucius at all, but in the event of a complication, it was good knowing they had our backs. Behind me, four burly men of Caledonia strode up in their fatigues, each armed with curious, archaic cudgels with the arcane oghma symbols of Catoc writ across their lengths.

It was time to move.